Astoria to Rome, NY

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I rolled into New York last night at around 6:00 pm. I wasn't emotionally prepared for the $8.00 toll to cross into Manhattan, but I will manage somehow.

I picked up my friend Matthew from his place in Inwood and the two of us drove to the other end of the island. My girlfriend had picked up a shift playing at Marie's in the West Village and we joined here there. Erin, a friend of Matt and Franca's, was also at the bar, and ended up joining us for the evening.

The night started to pick up around 8:00 and a crowd was starting to form in the bar. Among the crowd was my friend Patrick, with whom I went to college. In fact, Matt and Patrick were in the production of Hair that I directed back then. The three of us got together and sang "Big Ass Rock" from The Full Monty. As we were getting ready to start, a woman sitting right near the piano said, "You went to Butler? I went to Butler!" We asked one of the other patrons to take our picture, which I will add in a little while.

When Franca's shift was over at 10pm, Matt, Erin, Franca and I decided to get something to eat. We went to the local diner and had a lovely time, talking and enjoying one another's company. Then, right near the end of our meal, an argument broke out at a pair of tables right behind us. As soon as the voices started to raise, I paid very close attention to what was being said. Unfortunately, all I could make out was that someone needed to better respect someone else's mother. In fact, I could only hear one person yelling in this entire argument, but his yelling did encourage the two people at whom he was yelling to stand up and move closer to him. The management and a couple of waiters came over and got between the warring parties. The manager told everyone to pay their checks and leave, which unfortunately didn't convince the yelling dude to throw the first punch. Tables were knocked over, four or five guys were punching and wrestling while five or six restaurant employees tried to break it up. The police were called, most of the active participants in the fight dispersed, leaving yelling dude to answer for everything, which seemed about right. After the fight, the four of us got ice cream.

Franca and I are off to Rome, NY this morning. She has offered to buy breakfast. I have to take advantage of the situation.