It's been a very busy week, but I'm seeing light at the end of the Chunnel. Here's the highlights of new stuff. I think after this week, I'll be freed up to write more personal stuff in this space and less link-dumping.

I had a story in the Sunday paper, a big holiday gift guide on technology for these cash-strapped times. It took a lot more time to put together than I expected, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I don't think it's the obvious cell phone/iPod gifts that you'd expect to see. At least that was the intent.

I'm going to be doing a live chat about the guide on Monday, 2 p.m. CST over on Digital Savant. If you feel like coming and asking questions or offering suggestions on what tech gifts you like for the holidays, come stop in, please.

There was also a new Masters of their Domains in Saturday's paper, this one about a site called Special Needs Neighborhood. Also shot a quick video, which you can see below.

I also had a holiday tech gift guide on Television Without Pity that went live over the weekend. It's not the same content as the Statesman gift guide, although there was a little crossover and I was able to do some of the research for both at the same time. It ran as a photo gallery on their site.

The plan is to be on NPR's All Things Considered again on Monday, talking about social networking in the workplace. I'll link to the segment when it's live on their site.

And lastly, I was asked to write a piece for the Baltimore Sun's book blog, Read Street, about being a working newspaper writer who does a lot of freelancing and other projects on the side. I'm not sure if the piece makes sense exactly, but it sort of illustrates the point of being stretched thin sometimes and trying to do your best with the brain and the typing fingers you have.

They said some flattering things over there and I'm nothing if not a stick of butter on a hot grill when it comes to flattery.

I'm finishing up one last recap for the year and videos with my brother, but things finally look like they're going to slow down a little bit for the holidays. Looking forward to it, because I'm pretty damned exhausted right now.

Oh, one last thing. What the Hell is a Grillagas and is it possible we're related?

Edited to add: I knew I was forgetting something. I also wrote a review of the Austin performance of Cheech & Chong's reunion tour for our XL Entertainment section last week. NOW I'm done.

A new Smallville recap is up. One more and I get a long winter break!

Forget-Me-Bot -- Chloe begins to lose memories of her friends as Brainiac infects her brain with the Kryptonian symbol for "Doom." Things get pretty Eternal Sunshine up in here, but instead of a sweet, forlorn ending, Clark erases all memory of his powers from his best friend's brain. Nice move, dick.

I am tired. No lie.

Here's a video I shot and edited for work featuring some, ah... gameplay from... you know what? I'm not gonna explain. Just watch.

Happy Monday to you. I'm completely wiped, but it's not your fault at all. I overextended myself this weekend and am not paying the price. (Yaaaaawn.)

So, here's what's up. Friday night, I saw my friend Raul Garza's play Fantasmaville. He won a national award for it and many close friends were in the cast or behind the scenes. And when we went to the play Friday, many more friends from LCP and other places were there, too. It was quite wonderful. The play is ambitious and well-acted and something I'm incredibly proud of Raul for writing.

The show has already closed, but I have no doubt it'll be restaged at some point.

Saturday night, I saw Cheech & Chong in concert and was flooded with pot smoke. I wrote a review and will link to that when it's up, probably Wednesday or Thursday, on the Statesman site.

Today I'm on NPR's "All Tech Considered" (part of All Things Considered) again, this time taking a few questions from listeners about tech stuff. I'm still not absolutely sure what weeks I will/won't be on the air, but it's looking like Mondays on most weeks I'll be on the air.

I'm also going to be doing some light blogging once or twice a week on their community site, giving supplemental info and posting other stuff related to tech.

Lastly, I'm pretty proud of this. It's probably my favorite "Trailers Without Pity" so far and features a guest appearance by our favorite stomach creature, Kuato. Episode #5, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

Next week, we're doing Harry Potter, which poses its own unique challenges. Wish us luck!