Reading: Last night I went with some friends to hear/see a discussion with Margaret Atwood. It was part of the "Talking Volumes" bookclub sponsored by MPR, the Star Tribune and the Loft, and this month we, as a state, had read The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood is one of my favorite author's and this was one of my favorite of her novels. I had high expectations because I respect her so much as a writer and the discussion only improved my view of her. She is intelligent, witty, well-spoken and well-informed. This novel freaked me out when I first read it but I can really see the events happening. The novel has been made into an opera now and there was an interesting article by Atwood in the paper about how the opera came to be. Check out the article--it has much of the same material and points she made in the discussion last night.

Eating: We ate out last night before the "Talking Volumes" discussion. I don't know downtown St. Paul very well so had no opinion on where we ate. We ended up going to Christo's, a Greek restaurant in an old train station. Very cool restaurant and good food too. There is also a location on Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis. I ordered the Greek Hash, just because it sounded a little different. It was Gyros, potatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes with feta cheese on top. It was pretty good but it was HUGE! I ate quite a bit and still have leftovers enough for easily 3 more meals.