After a night's stopover in snowy Chicago (Ethiopian for dinner, followed by bowling in Lincoln Square; Target, Marshall's, and Jamba Juice today), I have arrived in LA. It's not quite 48 hours since I left London, and I have spent at least half that time en route to or from airports (LHR, ORD, MDW, LAX) or in the air, perfecting my carbon footprint. Good times.

Still, it was great to see friends, and I'm happy to report that the hotel here has a reasonable complement of cable channels. Which is to say both HGTV and TLC.

I may not be having much luck downloading Hope's eviction on Saturday night, but at least there's What's With That Decked Out Christmas House?I'm going to see her July, you know. Wowowowow.

Yes, in case you were worried, Phil and I made it back from Cardiff. It was about 15 hours later than originally planned, and it wasn't direct service, but you make it work. At least we didn't spend the night in a car on the M5, lacking, as the newscasts said, 'food, water, and facilities'. Special thanks to the Hilton for its not-especially-luxurious bed. Honestly, the Doctor Who exhibition seems like a distant memory, but there was an animatronic Dalek who cried 'exterminate!' or something to that effect at the press of a button. That was the highlight. Well, that and the Doctor's suit (including Chuck Ts).

As for the 'nightlife' of Wales's capital city, well, it's no London. Not that I expected it would be, but, um, yeah.

I'm pretty sure one of my favourite lyrics ever is in the Gothic Archies' ode to Count Olaf, 'Scream and Run Away'. Namely, the line 'you might be thinking what a romp this is, but wait till you meet his accomplices'. That rhyming is so strong it's almost rapping.

Next Friday, because I apparently can't get enough of Wales, I'm going to Cardiff for the day. I mentioned this possibility to rollerboogie when I was in New York, but it's really happening: there will be a trip to the Doctor Who exhibition. Apparently, it's the city's number 1 attraction. Those Trinny & Susannah bots had best be there, ya heard? And, who knows, maybe we'll run into Kylie. She's been in town taping the Christmas episode.

Meantime, apparently David Tennant is going to be in a new show. So that's good.

A weekend trip to Wales.