Good morning! Today’s Twitterview with @CathyWurzer is now going to begin. Welcome everyone!

Cathy:    Hi Joel! Nice to join you in cyberspace.

To begin, share with us a little background about yourself. Where did you grow up and attend school?

Cathy:    I’m a south Mpls native. Grew up a few blocks off Lake St. Proud grad of Mpls South High

What kinds of things were you interested in while growing up? Did you aspire to want to do TV and radio?

Cathy:    Other than horses, I was always fascinated with the weather. I wanted to be the first TV meteorologist in the metro.

That dream was dashed by my utter inability to handle math and physics. I’m kind of an arm chair weather geek now.

Did I want to be in radio/TV when I was a kid? Nope. Had NO plans! :)

Would you ever try being a storm-chaser? After HS, what did you do and what was your first job as an adult?

Cathy:    I’ll take the storm chaser question first. HECK YES I would love to chase and while at WCCO-TV did a little chasing.

I have never seen a tornado in person. I would love to. They are fascinating creations of Mother Nature.

Maybe when I get some time, I’ll head down to Tornado Alley and chase with one of the groups that do.

Your second question about life after Mpls South High? I went to college at UW-River Falls. Very good, small school.

I deliberately went to River Falls because I thought the U of M was a tad too big for me at the time and…

I really wanted to get away from home. @uwrf had/has a really good journalism program.

I was lucky that before graduating from UWRF I had a job at KSTP-AM radio. I couldn’t believe it!

My first job at KSTP-AM radio was as the Capitol reporter. That was one of the most fun jobs I’ve had!

Oh. You asked about first job as an adult? I guess the VERY first one was as a switchboard operator at…

Lets move forward a bit. When did you start at @wcco and then how long have you been with @tptAlmanac?

Cathy:    I started at @WCCO in the late ’90′s. I’ve been doing @tptAlmanac for 18 years. I just called my producer to ask!

Also, what moved you to get into the worlds of writing and filmmaking ?

Cathy:    Thanks for asking about my other “lives”–writing and documentary filmmaking. I LOVE history and always wanted to…

produce documentaries. I wanted to “test” myself in a sense to see if I could do such a thing.

@talesoftheroad was the result. I set out to do a historical documentary about Hwy 61 and wound up writing a book.

@talesoftheroad was a labor of love. I really didn’t have a clue about the amount of work both would entail.

The book and documentary were years in the making but it was such great fun, I’m working on a sequel!

Was book 1 about going North on Hwy 61 and book 2 is about going South? j/k So you like road trips?

Cathy:    Of course, with a sequel, I’m really hoping the 1946 era Cadillac we used will be in fine motoring form and usable!

he book/documentary is about the whole highway in Mn. from Grand Portage to LaCrescent. The sequel…

…will focus on stories I left out. (RedWing Pottery, 3M in St. Paul, a haunted inn near the No. Shore.

Ultimately, I hope to do a longer form, multi-part documentary taking the road from Grand Portage, Mn. to New Orleans.

If I succeed in making it all the way down the road I’ll be a happy woman. Yes, I love roadtrips and…

Cathy:    Do you like road trips Joel?? (Sorry, I’m used to asking questions…!)

Joel:    Yes, when I have time for them. I’d love to do one from MSP through the Rockies. :)

What’s been one of your most memorable road-trips that you’ve taken? Have you ever traveled by train?

Cathy:    One of the most memorable was a family trip, out west, in a pop-up camper. I’m shocked we didn’t kill each other!

That kind of trip was exactly what we did as a family. Quite memorable! You asked about trains? LOVE ‘em.

Haven’t enjoyed train travel since I was a kid going to Chicago. Would love to take the Empire Builder out West.

Joel:    I can imagine. :) I wish we had more time, but we don’t. Thank you for your time and comments today! Have a good week!

Cathy:    Thanks so much Joel! I’ve had a ball chatting!!

On an overcast Tuesday afternoon, I had lunch at a new restaurant in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis called, Sparks. Sparks is owned by chef Johnathan Hunt, who also is connected to Al Vento near the Minnehaha Falls and and Rinata, located on Hennepin Ave in Uptown. Both of them are Italian restaurants, where Sparks is more Mediterranean styled. When you first get inside, you’ll notice that it seats about 30+ people, but has a very open and airy design, especially with the 2 roll-up doors on the South side of the building. Lots of sun and light fill the space, making it very inviting to guests. You kind of get a similar feeling like when you visit a chain or neighborhood coffee shop. It’s a space that you could easily spread out in and spend a good amount of time at.  People will really enjoy coming here again and again.

Since this was my first time here, I didn’t have a favorite or a go-to menu item to choose off of the menu, so I took my time perusing the menu to see what tickled my fancy. The menu had a good number of options, including a vegan / gluten-free section. After taking some time to make my selection, I decided to try one of the pizzas, the prosciutto and egg. I seem to be trying eggs on things that I hadn’t done so in the past, like on a burger and now on a pizza, and I really like what it adds in taste. I enjoyed it and for a lunch, it was plenty filling for my appetite. The fresh arugula on top of the pizza was good as well. I’ve now had pizza on 3 different occasions with arugula as one of my toppings, and I definitely think that I’ll continue to do so in the future.  The crust was done just right in their wood burning oven, which is really a centerpiece of the restaurant that you can’t miss when you enter Sparks.

Jonathan is running the open-air kitchen, and at lunchtime, he had one waitress taking care of the tables. She was very helpful and attentive in seeing if I had any questions about the menu and was satisfied with my meal, which I was.  Be sure to check out this gem when you’re in the area of Penn Ave and 394 in Minneapolis.

DISCLAIMER: Joel Carlson’s company, Sociability, handles the social media duties for Al Vento.