Milton Turns 400 on National Brownie Day

Yes, it's National Brownie Day, and poet John Milton is 400 today. Congratulations, and have a brownie.

Speaking of brownies, Daria shows us the marvels of snow globe collecting at left, and a Dariacon is still being planned in Hong Kong. Please save the brownies and snow globes by going to the Hong Kong Dariacon and partying with John Milton at the Paradise Lost Casino.

Alert superfan UU, whose name if you haven't noticed forms a palindrome, which is a kind of snow globe, I forgot what I was saying..... oh!

Alert superfan UU has discovered something in the debris of old Daria websites on the WayBack Machine, something that is way cooler than the Daria MUD I found. It is a chat room thinger in which the Fashion Club discusses, need we say it, fashion. This is the best. UU is hereby promoted to Sergeant at Arms for all Daria fandom for his discovery.

IMs from the FC

It will be difficult to top that one. Thank you!

I am sort of tired and not completely with it from sleepiness so I will stop here and think of something else to do, like maybe sleep. Keep on keepin' on, King Kongs, and remember that the palindrome you save might be Milton's, and if there's a reward you could be in for some big-time brownie points.

LAWNDALE ONLINE LIVES! It's back up, folks! Whew! Go here!

BONUS: Wouter's 2008 Christmas comic has been released! And now for the fanfic. Need to update the big list soon.


PPMB

• Daylight: Falling From Grace—The Road to Nowhere, by Disco316 (Part 11): “See, there’s always a silver lining, even in necrophilia.”
• Hell on Wheels, by Roxanne M (Part 2): “Have you lost your senses? She is in there at death’s door. Do you have anything to say for your self?” Helen roared.
• Welcome Back, Daria, by Napalm Kracken (Part 9): "I’ll call Trent, we’ll get the Tank and haul the body off discretely once the sun is down."

SFMB

• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 33): On Ms. Li’s face formed a smile that everyone knowing her feared. (FF.net) (PPMB)

Meet Mrs. Johanssen (Part 2)

Mumu-clad Mrs. Johanssen first appears in “Café Disaffecto,” when Daria and Jane arrive at her house selling chocolate bars. (Her house and property, by the way, are quite nice looking.) In obvious distress, she comes to the door wheezing, gasping, and sweating, short of breath and about to faint. She claims to have hypoglycemia and be under a doctor’s orders to avoid chocolate, but she is less interested in her health than in getting all of the chocolate that the girls are selling. When frustrated she begins to shout and swear in anger, but Daria and Jane leave and she does not go after them. (You can barely see Daria and Jane standing at her front door in the second picture above. Click on it to enlarge it.)

Mrs. Johanssen reappears at the flea market in “That Was Then, This Is Dumb,” asking Daria and Jane if they are selling snow domes. She doesn’t appear to recognize them from earlier and leaves in disgust when Daria begins a spiel about aliens from space. In “The Old and the Beautiful” the Fashion Club arrive at her home asking for clothing donations, but the Clubbers leave as soon as they catch sight of her, not wishing to have any of her castoffs. “Mart of Darkness” is much the same as above, as Mrs. Johanssen gets into a fight with Mr. DeMartino at a PayDay warehouse store (think Sam’s Club or Costco) over a “Cheez Log.” She also asks for help from Daria and Jane (once again not recognizing them) in reaching chocolate on a high shelf, saying she had a seizure some time ago. The seizure might have been the fainting spell she had in “Café Disaffecto” or something more serious.

It is in “Psycho Therapy” that we learn a little bit about why she is the way she is, when she is in therapy with Dr. Jean-Michel Millepieds and says, “Maybe I do use food for comfort, but at least a chocolate bar never told me I was an accident.” Ouch. Interestingly, Mrs. Johanssen does not seem to recognize Quinn, though Quinn came to her door, too.

One wonders again why Mrs. Johanssen proved to be so popular that four different writers used her in various episodes (Glenn Eichler, Anne D. Bernstein, Neena Berber, and Rachelle Romberg—twice). Whatever works, I guess. More on this character later.