Italians love to frequently merge into a whole, proverbs into their conversations and they have many of them.  Because each region of Italy has it’s own proverbs; I heard a treasure chest of them.  This is because my father came from the region of Campania  and my mother came from the region of Lazio.  It is not always easy to get the full meaning out of these proverbs, when translated from Italian into English.  With some of them, it is almost impossible to understand them in English.  This is because there is a certain idiom that is lost within its interpretation.  This along with the fact that many of the Italian words have unique multiple meanings, to engage not the brain, but the mind, the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons.  On top of that, there is a particular play on words that can make some of the proverbs humorous.  Especially when used in a satirical remark.  This humor can’t be conveyed when translated into English and as a matter of fact, they can have the opposite effect. If you have a sense of humor for sarcasm, these are a riot; especially if you’re an Italian-American that can understand Italian.  In spite of all of this, nearly all of the proverbs that Americans use are Italian, with a few Irish, Chinese and one American Indian. Here are a few of my mother’s sayings:  When people think badly of you: Chi pensa male fa male.   He who thinks evil of others does evil. To be alert and pay attention: Chi dorme non piglia pesci.  He who sleeps catches no fish.  When someone gets caught in a lie: La bugia ha le gambe corte. A lie has short legs. Meaning it won’t get you very far. When a person is hated: Chi schifo e schifad He who hates is hated. When someone fears traveling in the faster mode, as in an airplane: Chi va piano va sano a va lontano. Who goes slowly goes in good health and travels far.    When telling a story about a person seeking to make a fool out of someone: Chi va per ingannare resta ingannato. Whoever intends to deceive winds up deceived.  Grandma Maria Alfonsa Carrozza always would say this one, when foolish people can’t perceive, that it takes money to obtain or accomplish specific things:  Senza il denaro nessune masse sono cantato. Without money no masses are sung.  She also would say this one often when it was discovered that a person is not only ugly, but is also mean: Brutto di faccio e brutto di cuore.   Ugly face and ugly heart.

Updated: August 11, 2008 Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. - The Constitution of the United States of America    Memoirs of an Italian-American in Connecticut By Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza Cosmo's Bio        ( WITH SOUND) E-mail This Page TABLE OF CONTENTS MUSICAL "THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW" THE COMPLETE LIBRETTO           (With Sound)        1. Overture from        "The Other Side                  of the               Rainbow"      Recorded Live with  "The Red Garter Saloon         And Dance Hall              Orchestra" MUSICAL "PINOCCHIO" THE COMPLETE LIBRITTO         (With Sound)       1. Overture from          "Pinocchio" MUSICAL "LITTLE ITALY" THE COMPLETE LIBRETTO          (With Sound)        1. Overture from           "Little Italy" THE CARROZZA FAMILY'S POSTED RESUMES PARANORMAL HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED? COMPUTER CHARLATANS TEST1234.DOC WILL THE REAL AUTHOR STEP FORWARD, PLEASE! WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT? GOD'S VOICE-MAIL FIT FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S "BUNKO SQUAD" MY FATHER'S "SALSA DI CAMPAGNA" THE LITTLE MAGIC VACUUM CLEANER GRANDMA CARROZZA’S MORZZETE ITALIAN COOKIES I REMEMBER NEW HAVEN’S LITTLE ITALY JUDGE NOT, LEAST YE BE JUDGED FORTITUDE OR A BAD ATTITUDE? DEAR FRIENDS WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE PERSONAL RAISE? THE TONGUE HAS NO BONE BUT IT BREAKS BONE IS INVULNERABILITY IN AMERICA A PRANK? COSMO'S ITALIAN-AMERICAN NOTEBOOK ANIMOSITY AND STUPIDITY ARE ONE AND THE SAME ANIMAL WHERE DID CREATION COME FROM? CHRISTMAS LOOKING OUT UPON THE MAGNIFICENT EDUCATED AND ENLIGHTENED? WHO AM I? I CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING! STEALTH MODE? IS WINDOWS VISTA OVER RATED? THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK HOLY NAME OF JESUS CHURCH, STRATFORD, CT IN A NUT SHELL BEWARE OF FLYING OBJECTS PORTALS All The Web Google Ask Jeeves DogPile Hotbot NorthernLight Snap Search AOL Yahoo! Google Lycos Excite Deja AltaVista Translate About NETWORKS C-SPAN CNN BBC ZDNN ABC CBS PBS PACIFICA MSNBC News Blues MAGAZINES Slate GeoEducation Consortium News The Smoking Gun Wired Salon The Konformist BartCop CounterPunch Slashdot MediaNews Inside ObscureStore Suck MichaelMoore.com The Onion EightBall Feed The Register Newsweek Time NEWSPAPERS Wall Street Journal New York Times San Jose Mercury News New York Post Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun Times Boston Globe Washington Post Christian Science Mon WIRE SERVICES AP UPI Yahoo/Reuters Bloomberg PR Newswire NandoTimes NewsBlip eNewsWire WORLD PAPERS The Times of London The Independent (UK) The Daily Telegraph London Daily Mirror Irish Times Mid East Times Montreal Gazette Moscow Times Sydney Morning Herald Kenya Daily Nation Jerusalem Post Palestine Times China Morning Post Int'l Herald Tribune Japan's Daily Yomiuri Santiago Times REFERENCES Ramsey Clark's IAC Cryptome.org World Newstand Fed American Scientists Everything APB News CIA Factbook How Stuff Works Space Skeleton Closet Encyclopedia Dictionary POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP Stahler Spear Luckovoch Ariail Bok Gorrell Block Rogers Deering Oliphant Smith Tomorrow Borgman Berry Schorr Payne Bensen Litton Stein Carlson Thompson Breen Horsey Holbert Locher _______________ Dear Readers, I don’t trust any news media, such as the ones above, especially those that include immorality, such as profane language and other forms of self telltale corrupt behavior. The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one. --Italian Proverb Let the buyer beware. In other words, make up your own mind. Best,       -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza _______________

IT’S THE UNION THAT FEEDS YOU! By: Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza for Memoirs of an Italian-American in Connecticut Revised: Saturday, August 30, 2003 My grandmother from Atrani, Italy, Maria Alfonsa Carrozza, that we called "Nonni", (An endearing Italian term for grandmother) God rest her soul, always used to say in her native language, "It’s the union that feeds you!" Well, I can tell you that she was absolutely right. I have learned from my own personal experience that she was correct. Now she never got the face to face with job adventures that I had, yet she had the God given wisdom to understand, that there is nothing like the union to fight for you and your family. FULL STORY _______________________________________ RECIPE OF "THE DAY" FOR TRADITIONAL DISH IN MY FATHER'S TOWN OF ATRANI, ITALY FOR FEAST OF ST. MARY MAGDALENA – July 22nd   STUFFED GREEN SQUASH  Plus other specialties. Revised: Friday, August 15,  2003 ___________________________________ Amico di tutti e di nessuno e tutt'uno A friend to all and a friend to none is one and the same                                           - Italian Proverb                                                            THE PEACE SONG ne summer I decided to write a song about my wish for world peace and what I believed each person could do to create it. So one night I sat down to write what I called, "The Peace Song".    "The Peace Song" was first introduced to a folk group of teenagers and choir members selected from Saint Bernadette’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut that performed it at church services. Their purpose was to create understanding and friendship through music, education, discussion groups and living and working together in a church community.    I feel that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – It is peace that we want, it is peace that we need," will help to create a climate for world peace and understanding. I wish to share this song on the World Wide Web, gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all mankind."                             - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza                  TO THE PEACE SONG               (WITH SOUND) Recorded at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. MEZZO-SOPRANO  Stephanie Shaw ORGANIST               Donald Funk               FOR WORLD PEACE ALSO GO TO THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS   (WITH SOUND) Recorded at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. MEZZO-SOPRANO  Stephanie Shaw ORGANIST         Donald Funk HOW WONDERFUL THIS WORLD WOULD BE (WITH SOUND) MISCELLANEOUS MUSIC: ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN            (WITH SOUND) Recorded at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. MEZZO-SOPRANO  Stephanie Shaw ORGANIST               Donald Funk THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD              (WITH SOUND) Recorded in Dwight Chapel at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. TENOR        William Myers ORGANIST  William McCorkle                         AMERICA THE LAND I LOVE             (WITH SOUND) Recorded in Saint Bernadette's Church, New Haven, Connecticut. ORGANIST  James Teti   THE NIGHT THAT CHRIST WAS BORN            (WITH SOUND) Recorded at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. MEZZO-SOPRANO  Stephanie Shaw ORGANIST               Donald Funk SCIENTIFICALLY  UNEXPLAINED FACE OF JESUS ON SHROUD I WANT TO SEE YOU JESUS POUR IT ON I'M WALKING WITH THE LORD BABY JESUS                (WITH SOUND) Recorded in Dwight Chapel at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. TENOR        William Myers ORGANIST  William McCorkle THE SONG OF SAINT PAUL             (WITH SOUND) Recorded in Saint Bernadette's Church, New Haven, Connecticut. ORGANIST                James Teti TRUMPET SOLOIST  Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT    PS. People think I'm crazy to put my music on the World Wide Web. I just tell them that it is all copyrighted in the Library of Congress and protected by the law. Plus, the music industry is not that simple. In the music business it is not what you know but whom you know. Just like in politics, it takes a lot of money to get anywhere. If you don't have the bread, you can just pack it up and forget about it, no matter how much talent you may have.    As far as sheet music is concerned, it does not stand up alone. It has to be pushed into the public’s attention with a recording performed by someone well known and that again takes a lot of pull and money. I have heard some of the worst musical compositions make a fortune, just because some millionaire producer got a hold of it; had someone well known sing the lead, gave it a big arrangement with orchestra and chorus, and I submit to you, that the out come was a busy musical arrangement that said absolutely nothing! Look, in other words, to put it simple as the saying goes, "Money talks and BS walks!" - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza RUSH HOUR COMMOTION Saturday, March 22, 2003 In Stratford, Connecticut at about 7:35am, I observed the other morning, a police officer setting up road cones on the corner of West Broad and Knowlton street in the east direction right lane, that led to the entrance of I 95 north and south. Now being that it was not even 8:00am, and the road workers had not yet arrived, I wondered why on earth he would be putting up the road cones so early at the height of the rush hour, just in time for people that had to be in at work and children in school by 8:00am? It only takes a few seconds to set up the cones. FULL STORY Saturday, Jan 18, 2003 ROTTEN EGGS AGAIN? Hmmmm...In all of the history of Connecticut’s inauguration ceremonies for the governor, 2003 will be the first time there has not been a parade with the Governor’s Foot Guards. His excuse is, “To save taxes.” B.S. I know for a fact, The First and Second Company Governor's Foot Guard Bands, have been for several years now, nonunion. The GFG organization is now a strictly volunteer establishment. So what gives? I’ll tell you what gives! The answer is simple. Being that John Rowland is by far, the absolute worst governor Connecticut has ever had and with all of the protesters out side the capital, he’s afraid he will get egged or worst. Do you blame him for being afraid? This wise ol’ weasel is afraid he’ll get rotten egged, like they did for President Richard Nixon’s inauguration day parade or something of the equivalent. This can happen or something of the worst-case scenario.    Well I'm all for free speech. I'm going to take advantage of it here: John Rowland is the worst America has to offer. He brings new meaning to the word "dishonest." There is no excuse for this man and his career in politics. "Ridiculous" doesn't even begin to cover it.    (Proverbs 28, 2) “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.” (Proverbs 29, 2) “When the just prevail, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”    As far as the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut is concerned, Joseph P. Ganim, and his racketeering snafu, I don’t even want to go there. I don’t think this man ever heard of the FBI. Hello! I never liked him from the start. Why? The answer is simple and completely obvious! Because the man doesn’t ever give you a straight answer; if you ask him a question about apples, he talks to you about pears. If you ask him about horses, he talks to you about mules. He keeps beating around the bush! By doing this he gets on my nerves. I can’t believe that anyone that talks this way could ever get elected. Then again, what choices did the people have in Bridgeport? If it wasn’t one crook, it would have been another. It was a lost battle from the start!    So what gave Mr. Ganim away to the FBI? It was probably his very own speech that was his informant and ultimately, betrayed him. Just listen to him talk! Oh he’s eloquent in verbal communications alright, but that’s not the problem, it’s the essence of what he has to say that gave him away. There is a saying, “Baloney is baloney no matter how you slice it!” and brother this man is full of it. It takes very little strange behavior to tip off the FBI intelligence. They’re not stupid! I sometimes think this man thought he was living in, “The Land of Oz” and was on his way to see the wizard along the yellow brick road. What a rude awakening he had!    The FBI has many disguises. You could be working with one or several of them, right under your nose and you wouldn’t even know it. I know of a couple of cases first hand, from a good friend of the family, where this woman working for the FBI was masqueraded as a cleaning lady at a Yale University cocktail party. One of the kids in my neighborhood that used to come to my house to play with my kids was being used by the FBI. How? For all kinds of set ups; drug deals, package store deals, etcetera. You would never think that this dopy looking little kid, with big protruding ears and playing on the swings in my back yard was one of them.                                                                       -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza __________________________________________________________________ March 1, 2005    EVERY REPLACEMENT BREEDS NEW PROBLEMS    Mr. Ganim’s replacement is a certain politician by the name of John M. Fabrizi. His latest plan is to clean up the trash from the Bridgeport, Connecticut streets. Sounds to me like a miracle in itself and I don’t believe this will ever happen. The City’s new anti-blight initiative, will go into effect on April 15, following a two-month public education campaign.    If a person is found dumping garbage, he or she will be given a written Notice of Violation and an Intention to Cite and given 5 days to comply. If the person complies, on the 6th day, he or she is cited with violating Section 8.60.060 and receives a Notice of Ordinance Violation for one day and a fine of $100. He or she must pay the $100 fine, but no further action is necessary.    If the person fails to comply, on the 6th day, he or she is cited with violating Section 8.60.060 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Bridgeport, and receives a Notice of Ordinance Violation. The person will be fined $100 per day, for a minimum of 5 days, until the violation is remedied.    If after 15 days, the person fails to pay the fine, or make written demand for a hearing, he or she will receive a Notice of Citation. The person is given another 10 days from the date of the Notice of Citation to contest the liability before a citation-hearing officer. If after 10 days, there has been no request for a hearing or payment, an assessment and judgment shall be entered against the person, resulting in additional costs, including the City’s legal fees, associated with filing the judgment.    “We are going to give residents time to comply with the ordinance. But after a grace period it will be strictly enforced,” said Fabrizi. “We need to get this problem (illegal and improper depositing) under control and we feel that this new ordinance will allow us to do just that.”    Even though I don’t live in Bridgeport, it will indirectly affect me in tax dollars.  How?  Like this — most of the people that live in this trashed area of Bridgeport, are poor obviously and totally depend on our taxes just to survive on the bare minimum. This means that they have to eat the cheapest cheese (one pound and not one ounce over a month only per family), inexpensive cereal with powered milk and sometimes with water and worst, go to bed hungry, etc.  I know this for a fact, because I worked with some of these unfortunates that grew up in such hard hit families.   How then on God’s earth, does he expect them to pay this ridiculous fine?  What is it supposed to be, they pay the fine with their Welfare and Wic (Woman, Infants and Children) checks and starve to death?  That’s what it amounts to!    A side effect to this medicine is the crime rate and taxes will go up. Nice stuff!   From the beginning of recorded history, trash in the poor neighborhoods has always been a problem.  The only way it will get cleaned up is if Mr. Fabrizi and a cohort, goes picking up after them — that too, will cost tax dollars, and that is where I would put the money, at least you know it will get done.  I think the Mayor would rather chew nails than do that!    If you can afford to give them a $100 fine and they can pay it, then they don’t need Welfare, nor do they need WIC, to begin with. That in turn, makes the government look incompetent, for granting them these care checks.    A large part of the problem is the fact, that you end up playing the, “Who Did It?” game. I know this for a fact, because I have found trash in front of my house, that’s not even mine — like a television picture tube that eventually got shattered on my front lawn. Complaints will sound like, “Who threw this beer can over here?” and “Who threw this soda can over there?” and “Who left this broken glass over here?” et cetera. You can’t prove anything, because it’s all hearsay. You’ll go crazy!    To expect Bridgeport to look all nice and neat, like it did when the rich, such as P.T. Barnum lived there, is living in a pipe-dream. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! FORGET ABOUT IT!    Now look at how thick this man is. These Bridgeport citizens, that he wants to pass out the inflated fines to, are the very same people he expects to vote for him, come around Election Day; and now he is busting their chops with his bad-tempered fines that they can’t afford to pay. They voted him into office and they can get him out of the office so fast, he won’t know what hit him. You can always tell election time is not around. You don’t think he would be doing this sort of stuff if it was, do you? That’s when all the politicians are on their very best behavior, hoping you forgot their terrible performance in-between, like little children just before Christmas time. Because I’m hypersensitive, I never forget...especially when the poor are being exploited by the rich — it’s one of my pet peeves.    What Mr. Fabrizi knows, is that the majority of the people in Bridgeport that go out to vote, are the ones that have money, and these folks do want to see Bridgeport cleaned up. What he is forgetting is a time proven fact; when the poor are hit hard enough, they will come out to vote in throngs and over power the votes of the rich. This has always been the stumbling block of the affluent, and being born with a silver spoon in their mouth, they seem not to know what it means to be poor. My most memorable Election Day that this happened on, was right after “Desert Storm” when President Bush Senior thought because of his success in this battle, he would win the presidential votes by a land-slide. Wrong! The poor came out in mobs and over threw him. There is an Italian proverb that I always would hear growing up as an Italian- American that says, “Hunger is an ugly beast.” That proverb is so true right down to the letter and for Mr. Fabrizi if he is not careful, come Election Day, it will be just that, an ugly beast!    With the middle class slowly disappearing, sorry to say, the trash situation is going to get worst. The more money you take away from the underprivileged, the more garbage and crime you’re going to see, and it’s all in direct proportion to how much money the deprived have. In some cities, the poverty-stricken not only have a lot of trash where they live, they live right in it — cardboard boxes, their only source of shelter and all.    Does not Mr. Fabrizi see on television, in the newspapers, magazines and his computer, what is going on in the world because of poverty?  Has he not noticed that the less money people have, the worst the trash problem?  All he has to do is open his eyes!  He reminds me of something Jesus said that says, and I quote, “They are blind men leading blind men; and if one blind man leads another, both will fall into a pit.”    In matters like this, you'll never change people; you can only change yourself and the way you act in response to them. I know this to be a verity out of my own dealings with people, family and co-workers. The ones that are neat and organized are that way, I believe, out of their own natural body chemistry and you can’t change them nor can you change a sloppy individual. So if some from the poor trashed neighborhood had money, they would have a beautiful home that is kept immaculate and as for the rest, they would still keep the place that they live at the usual pig sty.               "A man is not where he lives, but where he loves."                                                                      -Latin Proverb     The only thing Mayor Fabrizi can do is to get on his knees and pray to sweet Jesus to give him the strength to overcome the stress from this mess, and tell him that he can’t take it anymore, just can’t take it. Lord! Give me strength to change the things I can change, give me courage to accept the things I cannot change, and grant me wisdom to know the difference.     The only reason why I’ve decided to write about this is because he really strikes a nerve with me when he hits the poor and really hard at that too. It’s a heartless and thoughtless craze that I think is really in need of getting some serious attention, before he gets completely out of control. Too much power is really a dangerous obsession for this man — a common problem with many who obtain it; in other words, it goes to their head. As with many politicians, power has a predisposition to corrupt them, and total power tends to corrupt them thoroughly.      This decree is just a poor excuse for the Mayor and his Department of Public Works, which is indeed doing a pitiable job of keeping Bridgeport clean. He is obviously trying to put the blame on the poor people, that can’t afford to have it carted away. Ever since the time of the Roman Empire, it was never the tax payer’s problem to go around with a broom and barrel to sweep the streets. That’s why we pay taxes and keeping the city clean is one of the reasons. Don’t let the politicians fool you.      Ever since I moved out to this area, and I have lived here for several years, I have not seen a Department of Public Works orange truck anywhere, street sweeper or otherwise, with the exception of on Interstate I-95, probably to show everyone that they are working…baloney. In New Haven, I would see one or more of them nearly everyday in my neighborhood working right on my street in front of my house. I was able to see my tax dollars at work everywhere. What is going on? After all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done. In other words, we the people are getting hosed, big time.    Going down Stratford Avenue, I found the street sight to be an unbelievable litter infested mess. It looked as if the Public Works Department had not cleaned there in years. There was glass, paper, empty cans and other debris everywhere. With my wife, daughter and my self in a van, with thick tires, we ended up with a jabbed tire from a sharp metal object in the street. It would be wise if the Mayor doesn’t even mention the subject of trash, unless of course he plans to open up a can of worms.     Even though I don’t live in Bridgeport, I still ended up with tire trouble, so all of this does effect out of town, state or country visitors. They don’t need to get stuck in a littered and dangerous neighborhood!     It’s always the poor that end up having to be the whipping boy for the spoiled and greedy rich, and I for one get fed up with it. There is no way of justifying it, nor will there ever be. There is an American Indian saying, “Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.” Well I’ve been there; I have walked those two moons with holes under my shoes, run-down heels, flapping soles and all. My people came here from Italy poor, starved and not knowing how to speak the English language. They never had any mayor try to put the vinegar on their wounds; I really don’t need to see it start now.                                                                    -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza The people who own and control much of the press and other media are the very rich themselves. They like to hang out with other big-money types. They like to discuss the things that really matter, at least to the elite: the blight of increased tourism in the south of France and the Tuscan hills of northern Italy, or the high cost of really fine truffles, or the depressing problem of finding servants who speak English well. - Bill O'Reilly Continued INTRODUCING PIZZA! As with most Italian people, the favorite subject of my Italian parents as I remember them was cooking. Being that my father came from Atrani, Italy a small town in the south and my mother came from Supino, Italy just south of Rome, there was always this controversy as to how certain foods should be prepared. For example, the spice "rosemary" was used where my mother came from and not where my father came from, but oregano was used where my father came from and not where my mother came from. The "Pasta e Fagioli Soup" (Macaroni and Beans) was on the soupy side where my mother came from and on the dry side where my father came from and so the battles in the kitchen went on. This went on for years, with all of the slang words in the Italian language of course. To tell you the truth, both ways were incredibly delicious and comparable, in spite of all of the creative variations they had in their memory. Yes, they had a tremendous memory for recipes and very seldom if ever used a book. Please keep in mind, that the first in English Italian cook book "The Talisman Italian Cook Book" by Ada Boni, Mathilde La Rosa - translator was not in print in the United States until the middle nineteen fifties.     The bulk of the Italian people did not arrive in America until the nineteen thirties, and almost no one American ever heard of any of the Italian dishes before that time, including pizza. People from all over Connecticut had to go to Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut for pizza. It was probably one of the very first streets in America to have pizza, as most historians believe.    There is no doubt that Italian immigrants brought pizza to the United States, as part of their culture from the "Old World". Pizza was generally seen as a snack, not for a meal. Many Italians looked upon pizza as "peasant food"! They would use a little left over dough and tomato sauce. If available, cheese and meat was occasionally used.    Numerous Italian bakeries offered pizza to their patrons. For many years, the only place to get pizza was in an Italian neighborhood. Here, pizza remained in the "underground" for decades. An undiscovered treasure that took a World War to make it a part of the American landscape!    Pizza was popularized in the United States by returning W.W.II veterans. These soldiers had gotten a taste of pizza while they served in Italy. Upon returning, tales of pizza flourished, and with this word of mouth advertising, a demand for pizza grew. Pizza started to become main stream.    Prior to that time, the Italian immigrants that came here found, for the most part, that no one non Italian knew how to incorporate into their cooking, garlic, oregano, basil, Italian parsley, eggplants, Italian peppers, broccoli rob, et cetera. In other words, and as it was obvious, the Irish, English, Polish, Germans, Jews, Slovaks, could tell who the Italians were in Connecticut by the tomatoes growing in their back yards or as my father-in-law would testify, “by the smell of garlic on them.”    Polish, Slovak and all of the other ethnic foods were greatly influenced and modified by Italian cooking. The only style that remained the same and unimpressed was the Italian. The following Italian recipe is one of the dishes that became a favorite to the American people. PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP (8 servings) Ingredients: 1/2 lb dried cannellini or navy beans 1/2 lb dried kidney beans 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 lb salt pork, diced fine 1 large onion, chopped fine 5 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed 4 celery stalks, including leaves, sliced thin 3 tsp salt 2 tsp crushed red pepper 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp basil 1 16 oz. can Italian tomatoes, drained, tomatoes chopped coarsely 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley, preferably Italian 1/2 cup julliened carrot 1/2 lb ground sirloin 1 egg 4 tblsp seasoned bread crumbs 1/2 lb ditalini (tiny, tube shaped pasta) Freshly grated Romano, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese Instructions: -------------------- Rinse and pick over the dried beans. Soak overnight in cold water. Drain, then place in stockpot with 10 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer while preparing vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the salt pork and cook, stirring frequently, until the fat melts and the meat begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Do not allow to burn. Add the onion and garlic and saute gently until the onion is golden. Add this mixture to the beans, along with the celery, salt, red and black pepper, oregano and basil. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 1/2 hours, checking frequently to make sure the liquid has not evaporated too much. There has to be enough liquid to cook the meatballs and pasta in the final cooking stage. Add more water if necessary. About 30 minutes before the soup is finished simmering, add the tomatoes and their juices and the parsley. Combine the ground meat with the egg and bread crumbs and roll into miniature balls. Add to the simmering soup. Add the carrot. About 20 minutes later, add the ditalini and cook until tender. Serve with the grated cheese. TO CHICKEN CACCIATORA RECIPE THIS WAY TO ONE OF MY MOTHER'S SUPINO, ITALY RECIPES Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza November 11, 2002 Addendum to the following - Within only one week after the elections, Governor John Rowland of Connecticut is already complaining about the state budget woes, just like I knew he would! In other words, we can't afford to do this and we can't afford to do that! Why did he not say that a week before the elections?    His creative remedy is to terminate thousands of state workers, which he did. Well what did he hire them for in the first place, if they were and are not needed? For support and votes, what else? These state workers knew that their jobs were really not imperative and were bloodthirsty tax sucking leeches as well! He was using them and our money to help keep him in office. Hello! That alone tells me that he is not planning to run again. What a scoundrel! Just like all of the other politicians, he’s a sneaky, sleazy opportunist!    The crux of the matter is, he is not an intellectual giant for the qualified proficiency of the job, or we would not be having all of these state problems that he himself testifies to. According to him, now that he tells us the minute after the elections are over with, Connecticut is in a mess.    Unlike what made the Roman Empire great, these days, politicians get into office with the power of money and not brains! The scary part of it is, you could end up having in behalf of money, a harlequin sitting in the office of the president of the United States of America. Money is not synonymous with brains!    "Yes, money buys too much in America, like clever attorneys who specialize in confusing, manipulating, and intimidating juries. In the political world it prevents real reform of campaign financing, allows our elected officials to evade their fiscal responsibilities, and corrupts law enforcement of all crimes at all levels of government. What kind of democracy is that? And what happened to our famous safeguards?" -Bill O'Reilly    The Romans had more than brains in the lead of their government, most of all, it had the citizens that were able to identify it. Without a public that was highly intelligent enough to discern it, it would have been impossible for the Romans to become as powerful as they did. Second of all, they were very organized, brought about by discipline through obedience. This was something that even Jesus himself marveled at as we read in Matthew 8, 5-13. Matthew 8    5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." 7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." 8The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.    This sort of conformity would never transpire here in the United States. Americans complain and protest about anything and everything. They can be dangerously and extremely disobedient to taking orders from authorities, failing to see the point of it all.    So who is there to blame for this state mess? Us! Who else is there? We put our leaders into power. Our government gets its power from us. Technically speaking, it gets its power from our constitution not the constitution gets its power from the government.    There are those that would like to take our rights away from us. Know the constitution. Know your rights.    Even with the power of money in this world it is hard to take away your rights. Any miserable creature that would try to take your rights away is usually an ignoramus; well-to-do simpleton and that type of person would land into a pitfall. This is because the constitution, based on Judaism and Christian philosophy, is too sane in a court of law. To make it simple, it is based on the word of God. Ignorance about the word of God, is the biggest stumbling block for people that were not brought up with the Holy Scriptures. It's the cornerstone. It's the most important stone of all. Matthew 21:42    42Then Jesus asked them, "Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures?    `The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous to see. 43What I mean is that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." IT'S MALARKEY TIME AGAIN. Duh! November 05, 2002 Election Day Around election time I keep getting in my mail, all of these political campaign brochures with pictures of people that want to be elected for the first time or re-elected. I have never seen these people in my life! Who are they? What did they do for me that I should vote for them? Are they crazy? Do they think I’m going to vote a stranger into office? The reason why they are strangers is because they did nothing! They didn’t reform one thing. They didn’t build one thing. I feel like writing one of them and asking, “Who are you and what did you reform that I should vote for you?” You know what? I suspect that they would send me not what they reformed, because I know that they reformed absolutely nothing, but a list of mumbo-jumbo malarkey promises. In other words, a complicated often-ritualistic observance with elaborate trappings and with complicated activities intended to obscure and confuse me.     You make yourself known by doing something for the people. It’s the only way in and there is no other way! This office job that they want is exactly that, a job! It’s work and their boss, the people, want to know what they did. I know that if I went to work and did nothing, I would be fired in two seconds. It’s a job in office, and it is not a free meal ticket at the tax payers expense!    I think that the secret to being elected is to talk about what you did and not to talk about what the other politicians didn’t do. I don’t trust the politician that loves to criticize their opponent, because it’s playing on the voter’s emotions, a form of deceitfulness. It’s trying to get their blood to boil! Chances are they don’t have any creative solutions to problems and haven’t got anything else better to talk about in their campaign, that is except to criticize their opponent. People want to see what you did and what you plan to do. People want to know what you did and not about what the other guy didn’t do on the job. Just like at work, your boss wants to know what you did. After all, it doesn’t take very much brains to realize that it is your job that would be at stake and not John Doe’s.    You know something? People really don’t want to hear about what the other guy didn’t do, nor do they want to hear about the other guy not telling the truth. Why? Because for all they know, it could be nothing but a lot of idle talk! How do they know it is the truth? All of these campaign advertisements end up never proving a thing! You the listener will end up not having a clue or one piece of evidence. How then can you condemn a person? Some politicians will tell a person anything that he or she might be imbecile enough to believe in without proof. Nothing reveals the hidden rat race in humanity, like the politicians at an election time campaign! This is all being uncovered in an effort to obtain an office job, an office job that they can show off in as mister big shot, the star of the age. They will do this, even if it means taking in a big pay cut.    In just less than three months, the governor of Connecticut claimed that we didn’t have enough tax money to afford part time summer lifeguards at our beaches, at minimum wage. Now within his same breath, because of the elections, he tells us he spent a fortune on Connecticut. That’s a prevarication if I ever heard one! How arrogant can he be? Why would the governor for example, want to claim for the up coming elections, that he gave a large chunk of our tax dollars to colleges? They have more money than the Fort Knox gold mine! Yale for example, that occupies one third of New Haven, Connecticut, has more money than it knows what to do with and they have been a burden on us from day one, by not paying taxes along with other such establishments that for some reason get away with it.    College students pay a fortune for a small half apartment in a college dormitory, with six students squeezed into it, sharing one bathroom and a shower, with three to a small bedroom, desks, computers, clothes, six small refrigerators, one pantry and all. Such is the case of my daughter that just started this year at Eastern Connecticut State University and this is the better of the entire dorms. What rent do you know of costs that much? The cost of the professors doesn’t even come close to adding up to that amount. The only thing that I see being built at ECSU, is a new parking garage that is paid for by student tuition.    For his political campaign advertising, the governor is even bragging about the good grades the kids are getting, this all in his behalf of course. How can the governor claim credit for the good grades certain gifted students get? That’s a special talent given by God, not the governor! How clown silly can he be? Please keep in mind, that state subsidizing of public schools and state colleges is automatic! No one current politician can claim credit for financially supporting our schools. That’s the way it has and always has been, ever since our public schools began.    It really gets to me when I hear on the radio and television, all that lip service with dreamy music being played in the background of his political advertising with harps and all. That music may be descriptive of his life style, but for most people that have to struggle for a living, it’s not. As far as jobs are concerned, they are going down hill! There are more people out of work now than ever and it’s getting much harder to support one self on one job, let alone an entire family. I know that for a fact! I am a victim of the present hard times having to work two jobs, and that’s why I’m so out spoken on the issue. The governor reminds me of when in the morning, I tell my kids to clean their room and when I get home after work, it’s obvious that they did nothing. The governor has nothing to show. Have you seen any videos of his big accomplishments on television that adds up to all the taxes that was collected? I don’t think so!    Our government’s Democratic party wants to dictate to us regarding our performing arts entertainment, what we can have and what we can’t have. It is the beginning of our latest loss in our freedom of speech and freedom period! They are already telling the late night talk shows, what kind of political jokes they can tell and which ones they can’t. This little by little greasy inserting of control, is exactly the way Nazi Germany, the Communist party, the terrorist’s control of Afghanistan, et cetera, came to rise. How are they doing it? They are doing it the same way the other corrupt governments have done it in the past; by money power in the courts to change the laws. How else? And the frightening part of it all is, that there is not one thing ninety-nine plus percent of us can do about it, unless we wise up and remove these lawbreakers from power!    HELLO!!! Any body home? All of a sudden the politicians are waking up. Now with the elections coming up, after keeping silent for years and not addressing the issue, the governor of Connecticut is trying to explain what he did with all of our tax dollars, but his explanation doesn’t add up. It doesn’t even come close to the amount of tax dollars that was collected from the people. We are paying high taxes here. Just for the taxes we paid on automobiles alone is ridiculous. What did we get in return? You can’t even find a sand barrel on the street corners anymore in the winter. The schools are turning into slums full of hallway vagrants, junkies, pimps, and pushers. The streets are full of potholes as big as a depression around the opening of a volcano. The playgrounds in the inner cities are starting to grow barnacles, not to mention the corroded supports under our bridges, which is reminiscent of the Mianus River Bridge collapse calamity on I-95. The beaches are so void of amusements that they are starting to remind me of Death Valley. What is going on? Yes governor. What have you done with our money? Saturday, October 25, 2003    One thing is for sure; Gov. John G. Rowland, has enough of our tax money to give a 3 percent pay raise to 3,000 supervisors, department heads and dozens of political appointees, whose salaries are already well over $100,000.  Most of them are classified state employees in the management class. Some managers received additional, unspecified merit pay hikes above and beyond the 3 percent. Among the beneficiaries are about 100 commissioners and deputy commissioners, including about 75 Rowland appointees. He had the audacity to do this right after the budget layoffs of 2002, which happened within the very same week he was re-elected. For these state leaders, it's like harvest time on the farm again, as they gather up our hard earned money like fresh spinach. According to them, the crop wasn't too good this year. Baloney!  Who do they think they're talking to, the deaf, dumb and blind?                                                                       -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza _________________________________________________________________             JODI RELL AN ACCESSORY IN            POLITICAL CORRUPTIONS? February 13, 2005 Now that John Rowland is no longer Governor because of the now obvious, the very same preponderance of voters that voted for him are already all excited over his fill-in, Jody Rell. Are they kidding me?  I strongly believe out of common sense, that she is a part of the organized political corruption, by pretending she knew nothing about it. This makes her an accessory to his shenanigans.  There is a saying, “Wolfs don’t eat wolfs.”  I believe that she kept her mouth shut — at least publicly. FULL STORY Where was I on September 11, 2001? On September 11, 2001 I was up early that morning and with a cup of coffee as usual, I went to my computer to see what was going on in the world at, http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/index.htm . I couldn’t believe what I was reading! The website informed me that an airplane had just hit one of the towers at the World Trade Center. All I could think of was it being a small commuter or private plane that must have accidentally hit one of the towers, as the large airlines are much too professional to be thoughtless enough to fly directly over New York City, with such a heavy population just below. Although I would not put it passed them! I told my wife Janet what I read happened and asked her to change the TV channel to one of the New York City channels, as they would be able to broadcast it live from one of their skyscrapers and they may have actually seen the airplane coming that hit the first tower. Throughout that day, we witnessed terrible devastation that would have been unthinkable just one day earlier, and we all struggled to make sense of what this meant for the future. As I was watching it all live as it happened on television, I asked myself, “Why do things like this happen?” I searched the words of Jesus regarding the tower/towers and this is what I came up with. LUKE, CHAPTER 13 - A Call to Repentance. - 1 At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. 2 He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? 3 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! 4 Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them 3 --do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? 5 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!" - I believe that sin is the cause of our sufferings. The words of God confirm it over and over again in the Holy Bible. We will always remember September 11, 2001 as one of the darkest days in American history. - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza BETTER ONE DAY AS A LION THAN A HUNDRED AS A SHEEP I’ve asked my mother concerning what she recalls about my cousin John and what happened to him. Outside of that, I’ve only mentioned him to my wife, Janet. I’ve remained rather quiet and self-evasive to the subject. I find it sort of incongruous, that I should be all of a sudden, revealing it on the World Wide Web.    I recall that mom had told me that she would go to Rascati’s private beach regularly with the family, along with John. The beach as I remember it as a child, was a real nice bathing area in New Haven, Connecticut just off of Lighthouse road, that was almost completely isolated. It was sort of a word of mouth type place among New Haven’s Italian people. John, as mom told me, wore a one-piece bathing suit, as was fashionable back then. John’s bathing suit had holes in it along the chest area. I surmise, that it was probably a hand me down, because back then they were very thrifty, as money was hard earned and hard to come by. Mom would tell him in Italian, as the words are within the idiom of their sense of humor, that the holes in the suit made him look as if he had been shot in the chest. It was almost as if she had predicted his tragic destiny. FULL STORY April 2, 2002 FIT FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S "BUNKO SQUAD" Can a hacker get into your computer? Any computer that accesses the Internet is a potential target for intrusions and information theft. The truth of the matter is this, if someone wants to get into your computer or network, they will succeed, firewall or no firewall. It’s been proven! If they can hack into bank and government networks, where they have highly sophisticated network security, nothing is going to stop them from getting into your computer. There is a saying, “Where there is a will there is a way” how true that is.    The other day, a Microsoft Office Word 97 tool bar had accidentally become dismantled from its customary perch in my computer. It resolutely refused to drag into its proper place. Even after I removed the program and reinstalled it, the problem persisted. Being that my computer needed a good clean out, I proceeded to format all of the hard drives, freeing my PC of the problem.    After, I reinstalled Windows 98 and all the software that I felt was needed for my family. This installation excluded Symantec’s “Norton Internet Security 2002” which includes their firewall and Anti Virus programs among other things. At this point I thought I’d run, out of curiosity, a free security check situated on the Symantec web site, at http://www.symantec.com/. What did I find out? To my surprise, they told me that my computer was safe from being invaded by dangerous Trojan programs. Not to worry!    However, if I install their security program, it tells me that it has blocked Trojans, mainly the “Back Orifice Trojan Program”, the “Backdoor/SubSeven Trojan Horse” and the “NetBus Trojan Horse” from getting into my computer. This is not to mention all of the other nearly countless attempted invasions. Now to anyone with half a brain, that translates to absolutely no sense.    So who is the hero here? Is it my computer or the firewall? What gives?    To tell you the truth, I believe that neither my computer nor the firewall is worthy of getting credit. Why? I think that if need be, an intruder would find it simplistic, a piece of cake sort of speak to get into my computer.    After that little experiment of mine, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really don’t care nor do I believe what Symantec, McAfee or any other computer security company has to say. To put it bluntly, it is obvious to me that they will tell you anything that you’re willing to believe in an attempt get your money and they do prosper.    Please keep in mind that Windows 98 and so on, already has a security system built into it. One place to get to the controls is in your Internet Explorer browser, where you can just go to tools, and open “Internet Options” and then click on the security tab for your preferences. You can also go to the “Internet Options” icon in the control panel. Why go out and buy another? That would be a down right waste of time and money! Besides, everything else that companies like Symantec sells is already included in your computer. Just go to programs, then to accessories, and then to system tools. There they are! Yes! Everything that you need to have your computer run at it’s best; is already there and they work comparable, if not even better than anything else you can go out to purchase does. I don’t believe in taking up space on my hard drive and slowing my system down with unessential software!    The only virus that I have ever gotten was the “Concept Prank Virus” and that was from some diskettes containing some of my work files. If I do encounter any stubborn problem, which some people would call a “Virus” I just format the hard drives. That heals all "Windows" and "DOS" problems, bar none. It really doesn’t take that long and it is time well spent. - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza March 25, 2002 MY FATHER'S "SALSA DI CAMPAGNA" 5 or 6 oz. virgin olive oil 2 (35 oz.) cans Italian plum tomatoes 5 or 6 cloves garlic 2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste 1 tsp. oregano black pepper to taste 1 jar broken Spanish olives crushed red pepper (optional) 8 oz. capers, washed and dried 1 glass red wine 1 tsp. baking soda 1 handful mushrooms 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped 1 can ripe olives 1 bottle clam juice (8 oz size) 20 or 25 dry cured olives 1.) Chop the three kinds of olives together. Chop the garlic, parsley, mushrooms, and capers – keeping each separate. 2.) In a large pan heat the olive oil and add garlic and capers. When garlic is light brown add oregano and stir to blend for 10 or 15 seconds. Add the olives and stir, using a wooden spoon. 3.) Squash the plum tomatoes and add to above. Add the tomato paste rinsing the cans with clam juice. Add with remaining clam juice. Add parsley, pepper, crushed pepper, wine and mushrooms. Again stir to blend flavors for 15 minutes. 4.) Add the baking soda and salt if desired. (Keep in mind capers are already salted.)Simmer for ½ hour. Serves 12 to 14 persons – used over Italian spaghetti. - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza Friday, March 22, 2002 The Little Magic Vacuum Cleaner I have been reading some newspaper articles about the Enron problem, and I am of a different opinion on this matter. In my thinking of the Enron situation, my mind keeps going back to all of those absurd little hallucinatory Companies Enron created where the money, as if by magic, disappeared into thin air. Just like that! This is not to even mention the large corporations. Those companies vacuum cleaned up the money like little black holes? I really don’t think so! I disagree with many of the experts on this. The thing about Enron that doesn’t make any sense to me is; how can anyone deposit and withdraw millions in a bank without it being noticed? The workers would definitely notice it beyond a doubt, unless they are deaf, dumb and blind! The bank would have to be owned and operated by the riffraff! Who would in a million years, ever suspect that some banks, firms and corporations are that exploiting? That would have to mean that our government and judicial system is also trash! Who would ever conceive of such a thing?    Just think of all of the paper work that would have to be done, along with corresponding with these companies that would have to be at almost largely, phony addresses. Ask anyone that does or does not work for the post office; what happens to mail that goes to an address that doesn’t exist? They know, it gets returned. No matter how huge of a company you may represent, sooner or later, someone is going to realize that, “The Ho-Jo Toy Factory” for example, is not at so and so address in Bridgeport, Connecticut and that it doesn’t even subsist. Not here on earth or in the after world!    If this is all true, can you even begin to imagine in your wildest dreams how well orchestrated this would all have to be? You just go to the bank and try to deposit $5M without anyone taking notice! You could never accomplish that, especially because of the numerous inquisitive, self-indulgent, jealous people that there are in the world! It would be impossible not to leave a verbal, paper, world-wide-web or digital trail! How preposterous could they be? Maybe I'd be surprised; then again, maybe I wouldn't be!    To me it's like a burglar putting all of the plunder from a house in his van, and then just sitting in the house he just robbed waiting to go to jail.  It's one of the dumbest and insane things I have ever heard of. "Chi la fa l'aspetti." Translation: "He who wrongs someone has to expect something in retaliation." Idiomatic translation: "What goes around, comes around."                                                                            -Italian Proverb      I don't want you the reader to gather from this blog, that I'm bias on this and blaming just the higher ups of Enron.  I blame also the employees for making a selection from a list of companies that they or no one else ever heard of.  Before putting money into a company, I want to know about the financial history of it and what its future out look is.  This was really a case of dumb and dumber.  - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza GRANDMA CARROZZA’S MORZZETE ITALIAN COOKIES 3 Level cups of flour 4 Eggs 1 Cup of sugar 1 Stick of butter 3 Teaspoons of baking powder 1 Teaspoon of lemon 1 Pinch of salt Beat eggs, sugar, butter, baking powder, lemon and salt. Then with a large spoon mix in the flour. Let dough sit for 30 to 60 minutes. Heat oven to 375. Place cookie dough on greased cookie sheet with a teaspoon. You can make them into 3/4” high loaves. If you wish you can mix in raisins, chocolate chips or nuts of your choice. Place on the middle level of the oven and bake for about 8 minutes. When they are done and cooled you can use a sugar frosting with vanilla flavor and decorate with color candy dots. The alternative is an egg glaze that you would bake on with candy dots. PS You can use the same dough for a crustata pie filed with the jam of your choice. Cross strips of the dough for the top. By Sarah Carrozza Wednesday, March 20, 2002 Dear Readers, Some time ago, I had the good fortune of being handed over by a fellow worker, a remarkably well composed little piece of literature titled, “The Joy of Growing up Italian.” He told me that he was really impressed with this composition that was written by a friend of his. Because some of the known facts in this work did not relate to my being brought up Italian, I revised the work to fit my own growing up in New Haven, Connecticut. Being a very typically open minded and a loquacious Italian American, I would like to share the work that follows below, on the Internet.                                                                 Best,                                                                                                        I REMEMBER NEW HAVEN’S LITTLE ITALY I was well into adulthood before I realized that I was an American. Of course, I had been born in America and had lived here all of my life, but somehow it never occurred to me that just being a citizen of the United States meant I was an American. Americans were people who ate peanut butter and jelly on mushy white bread that came in plastic packages. Me? I was Italian.    For me....as I am sure for most second generation Italian-American children who grew up in the 40’s and 50’s there was a definite distinction drawn between US and THEM. We were Italians. Everybody else, the Irish, German, Polish, Jewish, they were the “Medicans”. There was no animosity involved in the distinction. No prejudice, no hard feelings, just - well - we were sure ours was the better way. For instance, we had a bread man, a coal and ice man, a fruit and vegetable man, a watermelon man, and a fish man; we even had a man who sharpened knives and scissors who came to our homes. They were the many peddlers who plied the Italian neighborhoods. We would wait for their call, their yell, their individual sound. We knew them all and they knew us. Americans went to stores for most of their foods - what a waste.    Truly I pitied their loss. They never knew the pleasure of waking up every morning to find a hot crisp loaf of Italian Bread waiting behind the screen door. And instead of being able to climb up on the back of a peddler’s truck a couple times a week just to hitch a ride, most of the “Medicans” friends had to be satisfied going to the A&P. When it came to food, it always amazed me that my American friends or classmates only ate turkey on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or rather, that they only ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Now we Italians - we also had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce but - only after we had finished the antipasto, soup, lasagna, meatballs, salad and whatever else Mama thought might be appropriate for that particular holiday. The turkey was usually accompanied by a roast of some kind (just in case somebody walked in who didn’t like turkey) and was followed by an assortment of fruit, nuts, pastries, cakes and of course homemade cookies. No holiday was complete without some home baking, none of that store bought stuff for us. This is were you learned how to eat a seven course meal between noon and 6 p.m. We also learned how to handle hot chestnuts and put peach wedges in homemade red wine. I truly believe Italians live a romance with food.    Speaking of food - Sunday was truly the big day of the week! That was the day you'd wake to the smell of garlic and onions frying in olive oil. As you lay in bed, you could hear the sizzle as tomatoes were dropped into a pan. Sunday we always had gravy, (the Medicans called it sauce) and pasta (they called it macaroni). Sunday would not be Sunday without going to Mass. Of course, you couldn’t eat before Mass because you had to fast before receiving communion. But the good part was we knew when we got home we’d find hot meatballs frying, and nothing tastes better than newly fried meatballs and crisp Italian bread dipped into a pot of gravy.    There was another difference between US and THEM. We had gardens, not just flower gardens, but huge gardens where we grew tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes. We ate them, cooked them, and jarred them. Of course, we also grew peppers, (hot and sweet), basil, lettuce, and zucchini. Everybody had a grapevine and a fig tree and in the fall everybody made homemade wine, lots of it. Of course those gardens thrived so because we also had something else it seemed our American friends didn’t seem to have. We had a Grandparents!! It’s not that they didn’t have Grandparents, its just they did not live in the same house, or on the same block. They visited their Grandparents. We lived and ate with ours and God forbid we didn’t see them everyday in their bedroom before we went to school. To this day my children do the same thing with my in-laws. I can still remember my grandfather telling me how he came to America as a young man “on the boat”. How the family lived in a rented tenement, and took in boarders in order to make ends meet, how he decided he didn’t want his children, five sons and two daughters, to grow up in that environment. All of this, of course, in his own version of Italian/English which I soon learned to understand quite well.    So, when he saved enough, and I could never figure out how, he bought a house. That house served as family headquarters for the next forty years. I remember how he hated to leave, would rather sit on the back porch and watch the garden grow and when he did leave for some special occasion, had to return as quickly as possible. After all, “Nobody’s watching the house”. I also remember the holidays when all the relatives would gather at my grandfather’s house and there’d be tables full of food and homemade wine and music. There were always plenty of musicians in Italian families and everyone joined in and sang along as they played. Women in the kitchen, men in the living room and kids, kids everywhere. I must have a half million cousins, first, second and some that aren’t even related, but, what did it matter. And my grandfather, his pipe in his mouth and his fine mustache trimmed, would sit in the middle of it all grinning his mischievous smile, his dark eyes twinkling, surveying his domain, proud of his family and how well his children had done in life. One was a cop, one a fireman, one had his trade and of course there was always the rogue. The girls, they had all married well and had fine husbands and healthy children and everyone knew respect.    He had achieved his goal in coming to America and now his children and their children were achieving the same goals that were available to them in this great country because they were Americans. When my grandfather died years ago at the age of 88, things began to change. Slowly at first, but then uncles and aunts eventually began to cut down on their visits. Family gatherings were fewer and something seemed to be missing, although when we did get together, usually at my mother’s house now, I always had the feeling he was there somehow. It was understandable of course. Everyone now had families of their own and grandchildren of their own. Today they visit once or twice a year. Today we meet at weddings and wakes. Lots of other things have changed too. The old house that my grandfather bought is now covered with aluminum siding, although my uncle still lives there and of course my grandfather’s garden is gone. The last of the homemade wine has long since been drunk and nobody covers the fig tree in the fall anymore. For a while we would make the rounds on the holidays, visiting family. Now we occasionally visit the cemetery. A lot of them are there, grandparents, uncles, aunts, even my own father.    The holidays have changed too. The great quantity of food we consumed without ill-effects is no good for us anymore, Too much starch, too much cholesterol, too many calories. And nobody bothers to bake anymore - too busy and it’s easier to buy it now and too much is no good for you. We meet at my house now, at least my family does, but it’s not the same.    The differences between US and THEM aren’t so easily defined anymore, and I guess that’s good. My grandparents and parents were Italian, my wife is Slovak American and I’m Italian American and my children are Slovak/Italian Americans. Oh I’m an American all right and proud of it, just as my grandfather would want me to be. We are all Americans now - the Irish, German, Poles and the Jews. U.S. Citizens all - but somehow I still feel a little bit Italian. Call it culture, call it tradition, call it roots, I’m really not sure what it is. All I do know is that my children have been cheated out of a wonderful piece of heritage. They never knew my grandfather.                                                                                               -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza                                                                                                                                                 Background song "THAT'S-A MY BOY" from the musical "LITTLE ITALY" BOOK, MUSIC    AND LYRICS BY Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza NEXT PAGE OF MEMOIRS OF AN ITALIAN-AMERICAN IN CONNECTICUT!   Audition Form for THE CONNECTICUT DRAMA PLAYERS   This way to my brother Richard Carrozza's humorous and sometimes thought provoking satire. A mix of conspiracy theories, real news and humor webpage, The Grudge Report.   This way to ITALIAMERICA   ITALIAN CULTURE LINKS   ITALIAN ART, MUSIC AND POETRY   This way to www.supino.ca   SUPINO MESSAGE BOARD   Website designed and maintained by:   Websites All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2002 by Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza