We is gonna go visit the Ice Cream and Book Woman

[tsap seui]

You know, that green woman up in the river outside NEW YORK City. Wenyan was trying to describe what she wanted to see in NY....well, you know me, I went to the icebox and took out a nutty buddy ice cream cone, took a book and held it in my left hand up by my chest and held nutty buddy up in the air with my right hand. "YESSSS" laughs Wenyan and Fengqi hilariously. "The BIG Ice Cream and Book woman."

 

Turns out the Statue Of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge are two things that stand out in Wenyan's mind about NY that she picked up on in China. The Brooklyn Bridge??? LOL

 

We went earlier today to book the tickets, gonna ride a big bus (with it's own outhouse) over to Jersey and get on a ferry from there there to the island. Have 5 hours there to look around, then back on the ferry ot the bus. Everything but our food is covered for $68 a head. Hell, I'd give $680 just to not have to drive in NY City....LOL

 

This bus tour place in Bedford goes all over the place. One or 3 day stays in DC or NY, 2 week or more drives to Alaska, Grande Canyon, all over the place. CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP, even have do your own things in NY or DC (ya get 8 hours from the time the bus stops, and then leaves).

 

I will admit, one of the problems I have been negilent with Wenyan about is goingot see things in America. They got over here last August and we bought a home for ourselves in October...made the big move in and took a few months to get all settled in. Then in January of this year we bought her a 6 unit apartment complex (three houses on 2 1/2 acres). Well, me being who I am, I got busy on renovations of the apartments. The former owner had let many things go for a long time. They were all rentable and even rented as they were but some of the rents needed some updating which could bring in more rent than they were getting....as well, I needed something to do.

 

I threw myself into the units that could be updated and while Winnie worked with me for awhile, she wound up at home a bit. It is one of my faults and I admit it....I love the challenge and thinking it takes to renovate old into new...get off on it like it's a good drug. The work keeps me young and fexible and the mental part keeps electricity moving around in pathways up stairs. I love it, can you dig?

 

Glaring and too easy mistake. I tried to get them all finished up by 2012's end and kicked my own as well as Winnie's butts over it.

 

Okay, Wenyan and I had a good sit down together this month and I had my own talk within myowndamnself. Some changes for the better are past due here.

 

This bus tour thing is pretty cool, never thought I'd be one of the old foggie's on a gal'dern bus...or ever set foot in NYC again, especially drive in the city. LOL

 

All of the units renovations have been completed except two now and those two are gonna proceed at a slower pace, still be easily completely renovated by years end. On most of the renovated units we are realizing $200 a month more rent with another one coming in yeilding $175 a month more. Wasn't frivilous work and only gonna take a year and a half to pay off the renovation outlays for each.

As well, in this area a decently good buy on rental units is drawn at $40,000 per unit. Good Lord, we fell into a super deal and got all six for $50,000 (just over $8,000 per unit). She has blown the intake to outlay margin's to hell and back. Very blessed.

 

Wenyan's future is set, as this was the whole idea behind this venture....it's jes the present that I have been remiss about. No more.

 

Gonna be one day bus tours to DC, Baltimore, and NYC, concerts, steam train rides in the mountains (we have 3 within an half hour of us), and tons of other things to do right here around us. I am gonna lay down my tape measure and tools and go play with my wife. Life is too short at this age of 62 to do otherwise.

 

Good thing they are working on the Ice Cream Lady and I can't go to the top now, else come Oct 13th you'd hear a rebel yell from the Nutty Buddy she's holdin' in her right hand.

 

August 13th we're gonna go to Johnstown, Pa and watch John Sebastian and friends play, then go to hear Bob Dylan there on August 29th. Anyone know where Purchase, NY is? Leon Redbone is gonna sit down and play there...I love that cat, hope he has the tuba player with him. NOthin' like a cat in a white suit, a string tie and a fedora playin his geetar and singing 1920's music with a deep voice....straight faced the whole time. My Gawd, the songs he sings were recorded on 78 speed.....LOL Too cool.

 

tsap seui

 

Funny how a feller can loose sight of the trees for the forest sometimes.

 

EDIT: Scratch the Purchase, Ny question. I found Leon is playing 2 hours away from me outside of Harrisburg, Pa....next week. Front row seats....$34 . I'm gone...LOL

Edited August 13, 2012 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Mick]

Sounds like a great trip, tsap, and a good deal at 68 bucks. Don't blame you for not wanting to drive in NY. I did that once and don't ever want to do it again. Boston is even worse! Hope you guys enjoy the big, green ice cream lady, but I hope I don't see any news reels of a terlet seat hanging off the Nutty Buddy.

[tsap seui]

My callin' card, a terlet seat....everything needs a terlet seat hangin' offa it. LOL

 

Man, $68 each to go to NY, too good to pass up, and these guys have been doing it forever. Even with a decent knowledge of DC it's cheaper and easier to ride the bus down for a day. No traffic stress with the Northern Virginia drivers, no need for a hotel. I left that area for a darn good reason in 2003....TRAFFIC and quality of life.

 

I really was blowin' it to not do something like this earlier. Too focused on Wenyan's future and not taking care of the present. Thank goodness it never blew over into arguements or flare-ups. Just another one of my qualities I need to change. Communication, as usual, rules. We'll take a day trip to the city (NY) a little later too and take some tours. All Wenyan wants is to have herself in some photos with different landmarks and to get a feel of America, the America she heard about in China.

 

Thank goodness she isn't interested in the Wall. I told her I did that once with the dedication march but can't do it again...I'd rather go see the monkeys in the DC zoo cuffing their clowns in the spring anyhow...LOL I think the DC zoo is only $35 each...too funny.

 

tsap seui

 

We're gonna go see The Borne Legacy in a few minutes...$5 for my old ass and $7 for her young tiny hiney...gonna get me a big buttered popcorn and a large coke, sit back an see if'n momma will do some smootchin', pettin', n' grab ass in the back row. Know wudda mean, Vern?

[Mick]

Tsap, ifin' you gets things goin' pretty good in the back row, don't forget the hole in the bottom of the popcorn box trick.

[Doug]

and don't let that terlet seat get in the picture light back there either. Get off to one side there bud.

 

Glad the green lady is open. When I was there she was off limits.

[tsap seui]

Tsap, ifin' you gets things goin' pretty good in the back row, don't forget the hole in the bottom of the popcorn box trick.

 

Oh man, the first movie we saw, or tried to see was that Mission Impossible 3 or 4 or 8 and I slipped John Thomas into the popcorn box on her...sorta like a fright for her, a delight for me kinda thing.

 

I got the tickets for Leon Redbone. I actualy saw him twice on Saturday NIght Live and been a fan ever since. Never saw him live though. This is a pretty small venue and I got front row seats just to the right of center, only looks like another 100 people or less have even bought tickets. I'm hoping against hope to get to shake his hand, get an autograph and a photo with the guy. He cracks me up, singing Ain't Misbehavin' savin' my love for you...my Walkin' Stick, I jes don't feel right without my cane, and all those 1920's hits with that baritone voice with a lil' yodelin' and whistlin' going on also...The Lawd made some pretty cool characters, he's one of them. A one of a kind type guy...LOL Just cpouildn't believe he was playing in our backyard so to speak. Two nights later we go to see John Sebastion, I can't say I was such a big fan of his back in the day but he did write some really big hits for himself and others....then the next week Dylan...who would figger he'd play in a lil' one light town like Johnstown....then again many of the old players are doing small venues these dayz...all ya had to do was wait for them to age.

 

tsap seui

 

Well suh, in 4 more days Wenyan and Fengqi will celebrate 1 year in America. Seems like only yesterday that we landed in Dulles Airport and walked off the plane into America. What a fortunate year it has been for us, so many good things have happened to and for us.

 

They both love America and our rural mountainous area we call home. Fengqi is doing great in school and is gonna play soccer again htis year. On the negative, if there is really any, Wenyan hasn't gotten a driver's license yet, and her english isn't where she wants it to be. She never drove a car in China and spoke not one word of english when I met her. Most folks understand her well enough in stores that she can operate her way around buying well marked down clothing, jewelery and such, even returning things without me being around. I'm proud of both of them and how far they've come. Drivers license's and english will come in time.

 

Tonight Wenyan is going to go with me to the writers group I attend every couple of weeks. She wrote a couple of paragraphs in Chinese, translated it into english and I haleped her with some of the grammer and words. It is going to be a real treat tonight, for all of us. she studied very hard on the words and the group is gonna just love hearing her read and very supportive of her and her efforts. I hope this will be an ongoing thing for her, even hope to get Fengqi to go a few times.

 

Man, these two have never been around animals, not even cats and dogs. We have an apple tree about 15 to 20 feet from our bedroom window. Once the apples started to fall the deer came. You should see the delight these guys have when we gather at the window and see anywhere from 1 to 7 deer chomping on apples. It is the coolest thing. They can't believe something as big as deer are right there so close to us. We have seen fawn with their white spots eating with their mother, bucks standing back as the does eat, sometimes coming up to the window after he sees it's safe...nothing like having a young 8 point chomping on apples right under your window. And they've got to se mother nature's laws as the dominate doe raises up and stomps her hoofs down when other youg'uns try to eat too near to her. What a joy to see this through their eyes. The ol' apple tree is soon to run out of apples, yet we are hooked on our late night visitors. They give us such pleasure as they silently walk into our yard under the moon's glow and chomp away....I know I am going to be buying apples from the Piggly WIggly to feed our guests. Many apples!!

 

And the fun we've had with birds, Wenyan has some incredible photos of flocks of birds in the spring in our back yard, then many robin bird nests in our trees with the robins raising their young, hopping around the yard for grubs and worms to feed them with, and us watching as they leave the nest....late flyers getting fed on the ground....I even feed a couple with worms I found under some flowers in our yard. Fengqi and Wenyan were in awe of that...then I had to pick up one lil' guy as he hopped out into the road and he started screaming... and the the dynamic duo laughed hilariously as 3 robins started buzzing my head, loudly and angrily chirping. Great times for us all.

 

Such an array of birds in our yard, one pilated woodpecker and many smaller woodpeckers hammering away on the bark of some tall locust trees on the back corner, bright yellow finches, and the topper for us....humming birds feeding on the tall flowers in our front and back yards. I put a hummingbird feeder right smack on our front porch, not 4 feet from the door. So neat to look out there and see adult and inch and a half long baby's feeding on the feeder. I sit on the terlet sometimes and usually attract a hummingbird who hovers from small grid to grid outside the window and squeeks at me. Hilarious, and so dear. Early mornings bring out the rabbits and squirrels. All things these two have never seen and we take so for granted.

 

Finally in our lil' animal planet we have goin' on, we have a very gentle and older male cat who has been declawed. Fred, as I call him for Freddy the Freeloader comes around every couple of days or so. Sometimes meows to announce himself at the front or back door, often just lays at a door and waits for it to open. One of us opens the door and in Fred walks, sniffs a few things, sits down and licks his butt, and patiently awaits as one of his trained humans gets his food and water out for him. Fred is one cool cat, he eats, akes a break and I rub his head ears and back for him. He's got a loud "motor" and it's soothing to hear his loud purring and contentment as I give him his "Hong Kong Ding Dong massage" as Wenyan calls it. He usually rips a good fart, smells up the room horribly, we die laughing, and he walks over to the door and plops down on his rear, awaiting his trained human circus act to open the door for him so he can finish making his rounds. Yep, Fred has got us all trained well, for his pleasure and culinary delight. I love cats, now we have one and it's not ours to worry over.

 

So many simple pleasures.

 

One year in America, next month we celebrate 6 years of knowing each other. Met in Beijing September 30, 2006.

 

tsap seui

 

Well suh, in 4 more days Wenyan and Fengqi will celebrate 1 year in America. Seems like only yesterday that we landed in Dulles Airport and walked off the plane into America. What a fortunate year it has been for us, so many good things have happened to and for us.

 

They both love America and our rural mountainous area we call home. Fengqi is doing great in school and is gonna play soccer again htis year. On the negative, if there is really any, Wenyan hasn't gotten a driver's license yet, and her english isn't where she wants it to be. She never drove a car in China and spoke not one word of english when I met her. Most folks understand her well enough in stores that she can operate her way around buying well marked down clothing, jewelery and such, even returning things without me being around. I'm proud of both of them and how far they've come. Drivers license's and english will come in time.

 

Tonight Wenyan is going to go with me to the writers group I attend every couple of weeks. She wrote a couple of paragraphs in Chinese, translated it into english and I haleped her with some of the grammer and words. It is going to be a real treat tonight, for all of us. she studied very hard on the words and the group is gonna just love hearing her read and very supportive of her and her efforts. I hope this will be an ongoing thing for her, even hope to get Fengqi to go a few times.

 

Man, these two have never been around animals, not even cats and dogs. We have an apple tree about 15 to 20 feet from our bedroom window. Once the apples started to fall the deer came. You should see the delight these guys have when we gather at the window and see anywhere from 1 to 7 deer chomping on apples. It is the coolest thing. They can't believe something as big as deer are right there so close to us. We have seen fawn with their white spots eating with their mother, bucks standing back as the does eat, sometimes coming up to the window after he sees it's safe...nothing like having a young 8 point chomping on apples right under your window. And they've got to se mother nature's laws as the dominate doe raises up and stomps her hoofs down when other youg'uns try to eat too near to her. What a joy to see this through their eyes. The ol' apple tree is soon to run out of apples, yet we are hooked on our late night visitors. They give us such pleasure as they silently walk into our yard under the moon's glow and chomp away....I know I am going to be buying apples from the Piggly WIggly to feed our guests. Many apples!!

 

And the fun we've had with birds, Wenyan has some incredible photos of flocks of birds in the spring in our back yard, then many robin bird nests in our trees with the robins raising their young, hopping around the yard for grubs and worms to feed them with, and us watching as they leave the nest....late flyers getting fed on the ground....I even feed a couple with worms I found under some flowers in our yard. Fengqi and Wenyan were in awe of that...then I had to pick up one lil' guy as he hopped out into the road and he started screaming... and the the dynamic duo laughed hilariously as 3 robins started buzzing my head, loudly and angrily chirping. Great times for us all.

 

Such an array of birds in our yard, one pilated woodpecker and many smaller woodpeckers hammering away on the bark of some tall locust trees on the back corner, bright yellow finches, and the topper for us....humming birds feeding on the tall flowers in our front and back yards. I put a hummingbird feeder right smack on our front porch, not 4 feet from the door. So neat to look out there and see adult and inch and a half long baby's feeding on the feeder. I sit on the terlet sometimes and usually attract a hummingbird who hovers from small grid to grid outside the window and squeeks at me. Hilarious, and so dear. Early mornings bring out the rabbits and squirrels. All things these two have never seen and we take so for granted.

 

Finally in our lil' animal planet we have goin' on, we have a very gentle and older male cat who has been declawed. Fred, as I call him for Freddy the Freeloader comes around every couple of days or so. Sometimes meows to announce himself at the front or back door, often just lays at a door and waits for it to open. One of us opens the door and in Fred walks, sniffs a few things, sits down and licks his butt, and patiently awaits as one of his trained humans gets his food and water out for him. Fred is one cool cat, he eats, akes a break and I rub his head ears and back for him. He's got a loud "motor" and it's soothing to hear his loud purring and contentment as I give him his "Hong Kong Ding Dong massage" as Wenyan calls it. He usually rips a good fart, smells up the room horribly, we die laughing, and he walks over to the door and plops down on his rear, awaiting his trained human circus act to open the door for him so he can finish making his rounds. Yep, Fred has got us all trained well, for his pleasure and culinary delight. I love cats, now we have one and it's not ours to worry over.

 

So many simple pleasures.

 

One year in America, next month we celebrate 6 years of knowing each other. Met in Beijing September 30, 2006.

 

tsap seui

Edited August 14, 2012 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[tsap seui]

and don't let that terlet seat get in the picture light back there either. Get off to one side there bud.

 

Glad the green lady is open. When I was there she was off limits.

 

Oh, the old ice cream lady is still being renovated Doug. Wenyan is just hellbent to have her photo taken with the green lady in the background. Yeah, I'll take yer advice and keep the terlet seat out of the photo....her parents wouldn't understand a terlet seat in the frame. Nor would they understand the debauchery their lil' sweet daughter and I engage in either...LOL

 

tsap seui

[knloregon]

"..Good thing they are working on the Ice Cream Lady and I can't go to the top now, else come Oct 13th you'd hear a rebel yell from the Nutty Buddy she's holdin' in her right hand...."

 

My older brother, by 4 years, admitted to me, soon after entering high school, (1964) that he had said the' Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag' all his life to that point --- when the part came: "...and to the republic for which it stands..." he always assumed that the 'republic' was the base of the flag pole..... Hell, the Nutty Buddy is more American than that French torch...

 

But Tsap ~ ! what a great idea for a road trip! take plenty of good books... (history books come to mind..)

[warpedbored]

Great story Ron. It reminds me of when my wife first came and we were buying a lot of gardening supplies at her new favorite store, "Home People".

[Doug]

Yur not happy there or anything are you Tsaper?

 

ONE YEAR! Geeze time fles.

 

I meant keep the terlet seat out of the projector light in the back of the movie theater............... well or I guess the picture too. But hey, her folks might want to try it too.

[tsap seui]

Doug, we're having a great time goofing on each other. I'm trainin' these two in the fine art of hillbillyism. They both now realize that I don't speak proper english, no matter how hard I try and convience them that it's these infernal yankees up here that don't tawk properly.

 

I get you about keepin' the terlet seat out of the path of the projecter. The dadgum ceiling in the theatre was too tall for me to hook it up anyhow.

 

Ya know, that one year did pass awfully quickly, it only seems like it was a couple of months...whew time does fly when yore havin' a good time.

 

I hope your trip goes well and you get the happiness you deserve. We're all rootin' for you, man.

 

tsap seui

[tsap seui]

Great story Ron. It reminds me of when my wife first came and we were buying a lot of gardening supplies at her new favorite store, "Home People".

 

That was really funny Carl. It is a ball to hear these lil' ladies come up with names that we take for granted. I know for us, The Statue Of Liberty just doesn't cut it anymore....that green lady in the harbor will forever be the Icecream woman ot us....holdin' her Nutty Buddy

 

tsap seui

[tsap seui]

Pop my dagum sus-penders....we went to see John Sebastion last night. He played most of his old hits. Really nice the way he took time in between each song to give a little history on the next song. He told us and then sang the song that gave him the inspiration for the name Loving Spoonful and he did that with many of his hits, he'd tell us how he got teh idea, sing the song it came from or tell us a story and then go into that hit. He was just like he always seemed to me, a pretty upbeat guy with a big smile.

 

Pretty enjoyable evening altogether. Got to say, for some reason I got misty eyed when he sang Welcome Back after he'd told us how he had gone out to California and been asked to write a song for the show....I didn't think it would do anything to me, but I got goose bumps and a lil' misty in the E-ball area.

 

He made us all laugh a lot and then it was memory city flooding over us as he took us back in time.

 

Often in the choppers when we didn't need ot be on top of hte radios I'd have the peter pilot tune in AFVN and we'd listen to the radio....of course the Loving Spoonful was a part of their play list. Again, it got to me hearing him play some of those songs I'd heard....touched is the word, I guess.

 

I got his autograph after the show and a photo with him, actually Wenyan and I got a photo with him. As I walked up to him I handed him this yellow note tablet I thanked him for the many years of music he gave us, told him about flying choppers and listening ot him on AFVN and how he helped us hang on to a piece of sanity and home as we heard his music. Whoa, he put his arms around me and gave me a dadgum hug, actually wiped his eyes and told me he had heard another combat vet talk about hearing his music and how our words touch him and give more meaning to the songs we heard. Said he would always remember us when he played those songs from now on. Then he shoook my hand and put an arm around my back for the photo. My buddy took the photo and, John shook my hand again and thanked me, and his wife leaned over and said thank you for your service.

 

A pretty down to earth guy with a big heart.

 

Some feller hollared up to him and asked him about Woodstock...he just laughed and said, "you know, that was and remains pretty much a blur". ...everybody laughed real hard at that.

 

Man, Loving Spoonful had a lot of stiff competition back in those days, they were a little soft for me back then but as I sat in the 11th row with Wenyan and our friend Tony it all came back to me about how those simple songs of John Sebastion's had reached out to me more than I knew. Funny how those old songs can take you back to where you were and what you were up too as you hear the guys hwo made them sing them again.

 

Winnie and I had gone early to Johnstown, met up with Tony who lives there all his life and he took us up on the purported Wolds Steepest Incline Plane for dinner out on a deck with a view of the entire city of Johnstown and the surrounding mountains. Watched trains slither like a huge snake around the edge of the mountains and it was a flawless evening with yet another dramatic sunset, then a half moon which shone bright as day as John Sebastion sang.

 

Next Wednesday night, back to Johnstown to see Bob Dylan. Later this year we'll hop on that Amtrac train which leaves from there at 9am each day and we'll ride into NYC for the weekend. Summer may wind up in a couple of months but we's jes gettin' started.

 

tsap seui

 

Anyone who knows how to post pitchers on Candle mind if'n I sent you the ones of Leon Redbone and John Sebastion?

[Mick]

Sounds like a great evening, tsap. Wish I could have been there. I saw the Lovin' Spoonful in the summer of '66 at the old Curtis-Hixon Auditorium in downtown Tampa. It was one of my first concerts ever. I was barely 17 at the time, just finished my junior year in high school. Me and three buddies piled into my '56 VW convertable and drove the 70 miles up to Tampa from Venice, where we lived. It was great to hear the Spoonful, but for some reason Sebastian's singing was so soft it was hard to hear him over the geetars and drums. Still a great show, but I was blown away by the opening act - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Devil With A Blue Dress, Good Golly Miss Molly, and the best C.C. Rider you ever wanted to hear. Lordy, what an act those guys were.

 

I know what you mean about those Spoonful songs. They really take you back - Do You Believe in Magic. What a Day for a Daydream. And I recall the Mama's and Papa's in one of their old songs had a line: "And in a coffee house Sebastian sat, and after every number, they passed that hat; McGuinn and McGuire were just a gettin' higher in LA, you know where that's at......" Gotta stop, my wrist is startin' to talk to me.....

[warpedbored]

 

 

Anyone who knows how to post pitchers on Candle mind if'n I sent you the ones of Leon Redbone and John Sebastion?

you can send them to me if you want