Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

Wednesday, March 23, 2005-2:48 A.M. (Thursday morning)

Tonight I played the beautiful Cucina DiAmore in Liverpool, New York (near Syracuse).  March Madness at the Carrier Dome and lousy weather threatened to cancel our little comedy show, but we pressed on anyways (after rounding up all the guests in the lounge and forcing them into the showroom).  Our host was comedy magician Bob Burr, and there were two guest spots, Jay (Sorry I didn't catch his last name) and Dave Kelly.  Driving home in the snowstorm was the least fun part of the evening...the crowd turned out to be small but appreciative, a combination that is handy in sex and, as luck would have it, comedy.

Tomorrow, a 460 mile drive to Rockford, Michigan awaits me.  Then, the drive to Big Rapids, Michigan and Cadillac, Michigan are only about 45 minutes each the next two days, so even though it's a one-nighter run, it's not complete torture.  Last year, I did a run through Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa and Michigan that lasted five days and took 3,600 miles to complete.  I like to torture myself once a year with a run like that to keep myself honest and to keep from getting "rock-star head."  My ego is big enough without thinking that I'm really something in this comedy business.  My drive home on Sunday is going to be about eight or nine hours, so I'm going to miss Easter, but we didn't have big Easter plans anyway.  I should be home in time for my wife and daughter and I to go out and have a nice dinner somewhere.  We live simply and don't ask much, so the time together out at a restaurant is precious.

On a more somber note, I watched the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" last night; I'd never seen the movie, but heard about the opening scenes of the movie and their depiction of the D-Day invasion during World War II.  I have to say that I was moved to tears, and after seeing what America's "Greatest Generation" went through, I am embarassed by the soft, candy-store life I led as a youth, buoyed by the freedom that my Grandfather's contemporaries paid for.  Spielberg did an excellent job visually depicting the horrors of war, and even though I'd read about the invasion in history class in school, nothing brings it to life like actually seeing it on screen.  I watched it while my baby daughter slept, my wife was out of the room checking e-mail on the computer, and I sat in the dark slowly heaving sobs that became so heavy that my chest started to hurt.  What price have I paid for my freedom?  For my country?  I know it's just a movie, but it stirred something within me that I will not be comfortable with until it can be addressed.

The Declaration of Independence declares that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, and chief among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, but if the right is just endowed, then it doesn't have to be earned.  Liberty has to be earned.

Enjoy your liberty today, and give a little thought to the men and women who laid down their lives to purchase it.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY