TechCrunch founder taking time off

TechCrunch founder and Silicon Valley man-about-town Michael Arrington is getting burned out. He announced on his blog on Sunday that he is taking a break over the holidays.

"I'm completely burned out on those 2-minute 'how ya doin' talks myself, and I'm taking two months off from the Valley to get my bearings again," he wrote. "I'll be staying at my parents' retirement home on a small island in Washington state and working half-time. The other half of my time will be spent with my parents and skiing at nearby Mount Baker. Yeah, I'll miss all the holiday parties in Silicon Valley this year, but frankly, that's a plus, too."

Maybe his skin is just getting thin. Arrington recently was accused of having conflicts of interest for accepting advertising from and writing about companies that he advises or invests in.

In a blog posting several weeks ago, Arrington responded to the criticism: "TechCrunch is all about insider information and conflicts of interest. The only way I get access to the information I do is because these entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are my friends. I genuinely like these people and want them to succeed, and they know it and therefore trust me more than they trust traditional press...All I promise is to give my honest opinion every time I write, regardless of whether there is a conflict of interest."

Arrington's blog, a must-read for venture capitalists and tech entreprenuers, was the first to report the $1.65 billion Google-YouTube deal.