So, here we are. The end of 2008. What a fantastic, awful, exciting, terrifying year it was. If you only lost half your net worth, you're doing pretty well. On the bright side, in a month we will have a new cast of characters in Washington. Not a moment too soon.

Sorry about missing the last two weeks. It's because... oh, hell. It's gonna happen. You understand.

Monday night's episode was 311, "The Eclipse, part 2," wherein Sylar and HRG beat each other senseless. The scene culminates in a nasty collision of box cutter and jugular -- which, as any parent can tell you, is just not safe. This is the scene I wrote about several weeks (months?) ago in which Zach Quinto and I engage in fisticuffs for eight hours. Having not seen the episode yet, I don't know how long the sequence lasts, but I can tell you that however long it is, lots of it remains on the cutting room floor. (This expression, like so many others, is a charming anachronism. Heroes isn't assembled on film. Although shot on 35 millimeter film, it is edited digitally.)

We were all very happy because the best dancer won. Everybody was cool and everybody had a character. Warren was great. I had a vested interest in Lance doing well because he's on tour with us. But he did go all the way to the finals. Brooke was the better dancer among those three and it was a fair result. Now we've had two seasons in a row where the best dancer won, which is unprecedented.

I wasn't surprised that Lance came in third, actually. It is all fan base-related and I think that Warren had so many people voting for him. I think he created a bigger fan base for himself during the show because he's so funny and kind of cuddly-looking. His personality was very big.

Getting ready for the tour is coming along very well. There are a lot of logistics to deal with before starting the actual choreography. With something of this magnitude, there is a lot of work to be done. Costumes might have to be altered depending on choreography. Everything has to be together. It is a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work too. The producers of the tour really wanted something different. Louis had been doing the show for the last three tours, and this is something I wanted to do and I want my choreography to be as different as possible. We have repeat viewers who have come to every tour. We're trying to turn a new page. It is an experience for me and something that I will take away for my future ventures.

I've got a cold. Thanks, Hayden. I worked with her all last week and she was sneezing all over the place. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that the virus was transferred by way of burrito. She manhandled the darn thing before giving it to me. That was Monday, before I realized that she was polluted. Moments later, the sniffling and sneezing began. I've never seen a human being blow her nose so many times in one week. Let's hope I don't break her record.

So, I'm home today. Tomorrow we start episode 17. It's a huge one for me, along the lines of "Company Man," which was also episode 17, or "Cautionary Tales." This episode is entitled "Cold Wars." All three are two word titles beginning with C's. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

People are curious why I shaved my head. I actually did a couple times before, but I always did it when the season was over to rehabilitate the follicles. There's been a lot of negativity this season surrounding the show and the cast with injuries and that kind of stuff. I did it so I could feel more liberated. It is one of those therapeutic things. I got a lot of very mixed reviews about it. My friends love it. Mom was like, "Oh, I want the hair back." I'll let it grow after this. Right now before the tour starts there is a lot to think about. The last thing I want to think about is how my head looks. So the perfect solution was to shave it off.

I'm not sad about Cloris leaving this week. I'm happy for her! She lasted longer than anybody expected. To compete at her age, at that level and have that much fun is amazing. At 82, she's funny and witty and sometimes silly, but that's what she's all about. She enjoys life. I think the show won't be as much fun without her. But it is a dance show and the best dancer should win. She was clearly not the best dancer. She was fun. I think it was the first time that the public let somebody go with so much respect.

As for all the injuries, I think there is a jinx this season. I'm just kidding. The dancers have been going strong and working and the show and tour and tour and show... after a while it takes its toll. The celebrities have also stepped it up so much. You can really see the difference in this season of dancing. I was watching videos of the first season I was on, which was season 2, and the way we danced then and what was praised to be one of the best dances on the show probably wouldn't be considered as good now. The level definitely changed. I think the celebrities are coming in as stronger dancers. I think because they stepped up the game and the level, that injuries are a lot more likely to happen.

In other news, I've been offered to choreograph the Dancing with the Stars tour. I'd been offered it before but I turned it down because I had a lot of opportunities to do projects that I wanted to work on. But doing the winter tour now is nice because it's not as big as the summer one. So it's not as time consuming but I think it is a good experience and a notch on my belt, so to speak. I'll know how a traveling tour is organized and what goes into all the aspects, like how to handle the cast and people in each city. I think it is going to be a good experience for me. And an addition on the resume to go with Le Reve and other stuff that I've done.

Sorry for missing last week. There will be times that I just can't get around to writing the blog. I hope y'all understand. Here then is a partial list of excuses:

On top of work, there's my movie. We're in the midst of putting all the financing in place, an exercise that seemingly has no end and always needs attention. Then there's the construction. The entire front of our house is torn up. Also, my daughter has either soccer or a basketball game, it seems, every day of the week. To miss a game is a capital offense, punishable by death. Not that I would want to miss one. She's the leading scorer on her soccer team. They're in second place out of 22 teams, so it's a fun ride this season. Friday night, I worked until 5 am, got to sleep around 6, then got up at 8 so I wouldn't miss her game at 9. I know what you're thinking: Nobel Prize for parenting. That's certainly what I was thinking at 8 am. My daughter was somewhat less impressed.

I thought that Warren was amazing this week. Kym is being very smart with him. She looks amazing and moves well and she choreographs around him so that it is his show. She's found what he's great at and they are doing it over and over and over. I could point out five or six moves that they've done in every Latin dance so far, and there's nothing wrong with that. The public loves it, they are doing them well and if it's not broken, why fix it?

I'm not surprised that Cloris is still around and Rocco is gone; she's such a character. We had Billy Ray Cyrus for six weeks, we had Master P for like five weeks. Much as I love him, we had George Hamilton forever. We always have a character who has staying power because of their popularity or personality or whatever other "ality" you can find. I think that's what makes the show. She's hilarious. This woman is a show in and of herself. You have no idea what goes on backstage and how she is without cameras. I think every time she goes on in front of the camera, there are five production people with their metaphorical finger on the button because you never know what she's going to come up with next. She's like that all the time. All the time. She's out of her mind... in a good way. She's a lot of fun to watch.