It’s been real, but now it’s time to relax. Have a great holiday week and I’ll see you sometime after New Year’s.

Before I go, I want to thank you for everything this year. All of you, from subscribers, to commenters, to readers and advertisers. Have a great break one and all!

If you need someplace to go to satisfy any holiday urge to converse, I’d suggest Illinoize:

*** UPDATE *** My last Sun-Times column of the year, “Pundits lose grip on reality when dealing with the Internet,” is here.

What is it about the Internet that makes some political pundits, columnists and reporters so goofy? It seems like almost every time I read a mainstream media story about political Web sites and bloggers, the pieces are full of ill-informed junk.

(By the way, many thanks to the blog My Left Nutmeg for the kind words about the piece.)

My syndicated column, a letter to Santa, will be posted here on Monday.

OK, now I’m really done.