Diary #412

After a lovely visit with my friend Claudia and an equally-lovely evening and morning with Ghost Rider, I boarded a plane in Chicago on Wednesday and arrived at Heathrow early next morning.  Brooke Magnanti arrived not long after I made it through the horrendous passport control line (aggravated, we discovered, by the royal wedding neither of us had realized was going on), and she gave me the lightning tour of the city.  Next day we were interviewed by Miranda Kane for her podcast, then in the evening we took the sleeper train up to Inverness.  On Sunday we spent the afternoon & evening in a pub (as those who follow me on Twitter may have noticed), then yesterday we visited some Bronze Age cairns & Cawdor Castle; tomorrow we’re heading over to the Isle of Skye and on Saturday down to Wales for the Hay festival.  Speaking of Twitter, those who follow me there may have noticed I’ve been conspicuously absent lately; that’s mostly because the internet in the Highlands isn’t all that great (I’m typing this in a pub).  Anyhow, keep your eyes peeled for a bunch of photos on Friday, and I’ll be back in the US on the 31^st.  If you’re in London, I’ll have time for one more date on the evening of Wednesday the 30^th, so let me know (but don’t be anxious if I take a day or so to get back to you).