The Gong List A summer's worth of the things we do instead of the things we should be doing.

V and I are currently sitting in the center of the third row of the Sovereign Performing Arts Center waiting for David Sedaris to speak wonderous things to us.

I would like to suggest that #44 on the list become:

"Throw a dinner party with Andrew WK as the guest of honor."



He can wear as many trucker caps as he wants just so long as he brings dessert.

for those gongbloggers who missed shady mapledom.

#43 - Buy $30 worth of books at a Library Book Sale.

The Shock of the New - Robert Hughes c. 1980

Complete Home Workshop Cyclopedia - Popular Science c. 1945

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien c. 1969 reprint (because, oddly, we didn't own a copy)

The Martian Child - David Gerrold c. 2002 movie tie-in

Ramona the Pest - Beverly Cleary c.1975 reprint

Ramona Forever - Beverly Cleary c. 1984 reprint

We Were The Mulvaneys - Joyce Carol Oates c. 1997

Hitler Victorious: 11 Stories of the German Victory in WWII - Gregory Benford ed. c. 1986

Anne of Windy Polars - Lucy Maude Montgomery c. 1975 reprint (AWESOME cover of Anne looking like she was a college student in the mid-70's.)

Anne of the Island - Lucy Maude Montgomery c. 1994 reprint

Threshold - Caitlin R Kiernan c. 2001

Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings - Katherine S. Newman c. 2004

Sins of the Day - No Author (although it's probably from the Catholic church) c. 1959

The Truth About Stone Hollow - Zilpha Keatley Snyder c. 1974

Miffy - Dick Bruna c. 1984 English reprint

Lost girls - Andrew Pyper c. 2001

The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt - Patricia MacLachlan c. 1988

The True Meaning of Smekday - Adam Rex c. 2007

The Birthday Room - Kevin Henkes c. 1999

Alice's Adventures in Oxford - No Author or copyright (Souvenir Book)

Amazing Magical Jell-O Desserts - General Foods Corp c. 1977 (I got this one because it had oddly attractive desserts and it reminded me of my friend Hannah who collects Jell-O books.)

Marjorie's Busy Days - Carolyn Wells c. 1908 (First edition! A ridiculously sweet children's book.)

This I Believe - Edward R. Murrow c. 1954 (First edition! Awesome find that I'm incredibly excited by whose Title Page reads:

The personal philosophies of one hundred thoughtful men and women in all walks of life - twenty of whom are immortals in the history of ideas, eighty of whom are contemporaries of today.

Among the "contemporaries" are Darwin, Oscar Hammerstein, James Michener, Carl Sandburg, and Harry Truman.

Plus I got a VHS copy of William Wegman's The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold for $0.50.



I wish I could get Loki to act. It would solve some of all of our money woes.

#42. Boogie down to the Sun Ra Arkestra. A free concert on Saturday, July 24th, 6pm. 40th & Walnut on the lawn behind the library.

Gong #35 has me giddily excited - waffles, absolutely - but also the fine print on the Smorgasbord's menu:

I'm not sure if this falls under #5 - Teach Loki new tricks or if this is a new item to cross off; #42 - Teach Loki to be a pirate.



But either way, I've got me a seafaring dog. Kind of like Scuppers, only less of a pussy.

37. Celebrate MC's birthday with delicious lasagna and cake. Check.

38. Watch Norman Mailer tear off Rip Torn's ear. Check.

39. The image of GR licking the icing off a glass dildo printed, irreversibly, in our memories. Check.

Also:

40. Grow your own cucumbers!

The official start of the summer was an official success. Come on, folks, let's get to more things on the list!

Tonight's Michael Gong's birthday and the list is converging in East Falls. Which is awesome. We plan on working on Item #14 (Perfecting Alcoholic Ice Pops) and eating chocolate cake.

But here's the catch - there will be nine of us here on Commissioner Street and we are lacking:

-4 forks
-4 knives
-3 plates
-3 chairs

Let's see who eats with what...

hot off the gong...

The Gong List, besides being an awesome name and how we identify ourselves, is an actual list. We've been compiling things to do for about a month and now that all the final projects and exams are over, it's been suggested that we get down to crossing things off the list.

There are no set rules, this is a fuckit list afterall, so any of us can do any of the activities. Sometimes we'll be able to cross them off together. Sometimes they'll be things we do on our own. Sometimes activities will break down along gender lines (I'm pretty sure that the hair braiding, eyeliner application, and "Ramona and Beezus" watching isn't going to interest the guys.) Items can be crossed off in any order and can be done over and over again. Items can (and should) be added as we come up with them. This is our summer fun list and I cannot wait to start having adventures and leave on quests and gain new skills.

And now...

The Gong List 2010

1. Learn to French braid pigtails

2. Make s’mores with marshmallows we make ourselves

3. Grow beautiful and/or tasty things in someone (or everyone’s) backyards

4. Visit the Japanese House and Gardens

5. Teach Loki fun tricks

6. Make all recipes from a cookbook (ala Julie and Julia but less douchey)

7. Go to Eastern State Penitentiary

8. Fly a kite

9. Learn the art of scherenschnitte

11. Visit the Herr’s and Utz factories

12. Write, illustrate, and publish an anti-library book

13. Knit beautiful things

14. Perfect the alcoholic ice pop recipe

15. Go to Rice’s Market

16. Create a mural in sidewalk chalk

17. Weave elaborate friendship bracelets

18. Make pickles

19. Take photos in the Brooklyn Cemetery

20. Start a Gong List Book Club

21. Learn to play cribbage

22. Celebrate birthdays & graduations with both cheese & chocolate fondue

23. Ride roller coasters and the carousel at Knobels Grove

24. Watch Michael’s “The Wire” DVDs

25. Learn to successfully apply eyeliner

26. Make homemade seitan

27. Camping!!

28. Watch “Planet Earth” and/or “Life” on a big screen

29. Create a signature Gong List cocktail

30. Herbie Hancock @ the Mann

31. Make your ultimate mixtape / playlist to share with the group & the blog

32. Homemade sushi

33. “Toy Story 3”

34. “Ramona and Beezus” (probably girls only)

35. Shady Maple breakfast

36. Kane house cookout

An hour ago I was working on my cataloging final project. Fifty-nine minutes ago, I wasn't.

What I was doing, though, has pretty much been the epitome of Fuckit List Activity for the last five years.

Brian and I willingly allowed ourselves to be sucked into the YouTube vortex and are only now emerging to finish homework and eat some cheese-in-a-can on Black Pepper/Olive Oil Triscuits.

So, my lovely Gongs, I ask you this, what's your favorite YouTube video to waste time with?

Mine's this one (and it's siblings):

This summer is starting out well, what with an abbreviated final class, a few drinks, and burritos the size and weight of a small child's head (or equally delicious microwaved and lemon curded pancakes). Thanks to our gracious hosts, even if Vincent left me with a Black Eyed Peas earworm some five hours later.

It's a well known factoid of life that people love trivia. And so:

1. Zimbabwe was once called what?
2. What is Super Grover's one weakness?
3.What was the former name of the Crayola color "Chestnut"?
4. In 2006, Gunter Grass shocked some by admitting to what?
5. Is Shaggy, in fact, truly boombastic?

Bonus:
True or false - in China, Chinese food is simply called food.


On your honor system not to use Google, Yahoo, Bing, Lycos, Webcrawler, whatever. First prize is wholly intangible kudos, to be awarded by me.

Usually when I am avoiding doing stuff I am required to do I start to make pictures or noises.
Lately I have been remixing an audio file of my brother on BerksCountyTelevision, being interviewed about an internship.

...
Also, tim is right about 6 categories and if we are talking about jeopardy and 90s authors, it's worth pointing out that david foster wallace did a much better job of dealing with it in LITTLE EXPRESSIONLESS ANIMALS.

Molly, of the authors you mention I've only read Am. Psycho and Bright Lights, Big City. Ruth, I read your post twice before I realized you weren't talking about 90s girl group extraordinaire TLC. What does this tell me? That we are uniquely resounding gongs with our own niches (and peccadilloes) in this world.

But doesn't Jeopardy only have 6 categories?

- skronky tenor saxophonists
- pale ales
- movies about star wars and dark crystals
- long, artful novels with no concrete plot
- cribbage
- why things ain't what they used to be
- potent potables

I would have just responded in the comments, but then I don't think I would have been able to post my accompanying graphic, which demonstrates my dream Jeopardy answer:


I've learned and forgotten so much, but somehow information that falls into these categories has stuck with me. I would totally win Jeopardy, fifteen million dollars, and the love of Alex Trebec if all I had to to was answer questions about these things:

1. TLC's What Not To Wear shopping rules
2. Bars in State College
3. Knitting pattern symbols
4. Candy
5. Alice Munro short stories about Canadian women in the early 20th century
6. Jewel songs
7. High school marching band

Do you guys ever have moments when you recognize parts of yourselves in other people and feel...eh... not so proud of it? Ever heard of Jean Teasdale?

Happy June 1st! Since it's the day after Memorial Day, it's the official, unofficial day of Summer. (This is ceremonial only since school doesn't end for another two or three weeks, but whatever, it's almost 90 degrees out at 8AM. This equals Summer to me.) The first day of Summer was the projected kick off of The Gong List and as such, here's my first post.

- - -

I'm a huge fan of American and Canadian authors of the early 90's. I did my undergrad thesis on Bret Easton Ellis, fell deeply in love with Donna Tartt and Jay McInerney, and I'm pretty sure that Douglas Coupland was a better indicator of cultural trends than MTV. (This was all, of course, before they hit middle age, became lazy and whiney, and gave Patrick Bateman an unsightly paunch.)

I bring this up only because I can't think of a better way of introducing myself than by ganking a technique straight from 1995's Microserfs*:

I am Molly Beth. If my life was a game of Jeopardy! my seven dream categories would be:

-American words derived from Dutch
-YA novels about HS violence
-Cupcakes, Birthday Cakes, & Ice Cream Cakes
-The best laid plans
- Gang aft agley
-High School Dramas
-Abandoned Internet Personas

Hey Gongs, what would your seven categories be?

- - -
*Coupland, Douglas. (1995). Microserfs. New York: Harper.
I could give you the MARC record too, but I'm pretty sure that's not necessary.

It's not June 1 yet -- am I allowed to start? I think my situation meets the criteria:
1. I am supposed to be writing a paper
2. I do not want to be writing a paper
3. I am doing something else... blogging... (can my blog be about blogging?)
4. I AM A RESOUNDING GONG

This was just a test.