Macbook is Hot!

My Macbook looks hot: All aluminum casing, nice keyboard, nice size. But it also runs hot. The CPU can get so hot that the mouse malfunctions. Yesterday, I got the Mac version of the Blue Screen of Death: Mac's OS 10.5 version is charcoal gray. When it gets this hot, I can't even touch the casing.

What gives?

I know a CPU runs hot when converting videos, but still. When it shut down yesterday, I was transferring files from one external HD to another--yes, a lot of files for backing up. And I was running Parallels as well (to run Windows). Is Parallels also a CPU killer? Hmmmm. This is very frustrating. I used to use Bootcamp, but I got tired of re-booting every time I wanted to use a Windows program--specifically MS Word because the Mac version of Word cannot write Japanese vertically (although it can read it--go figure). Also, I came to the conclusion that Windows run through Bootcamp also makes the computer super hot.

Is my Macbook broken? Do I need to unplug my USB external devices? Any advice from Mac afficionados? Am I simply abusing my machine?