For the past several months I’ve been using
Google Reader to aggregate the loose
pieces of the day into a readable list. I was a fairly dedicated
Bloglines user before that. Both
systems seem to skip certain feeds occasionally. That said, I’m not quite
prepared to pass around any glowing recommendations for Google Reader.
It’s especially lacking in its handling of del.icio.us feeds. For that
reason alone, I’ve considered switching back to Bloglines. I also like Bloglines’
Keep New check-box better than Google’s Add Star option, but before I go too far
with a critique of Google, I should experiment a bit more with the settings.
To be fair, I haven’t spent all that much time checking out the full range of
options and settings.

I have, however, noticed that I am more and more frequently taking small
delight in clicking "Mark all as Read."

As a reader, I’m generally true to what’s collected in association with the
blogroll. I mean that if it’s listed in the blogroll, I’m less likely to use the
Mark All method to dump it. But I still
have a fair number of feeds (±70) beyond the
blogroll whose churnings are beginning to seem like grist from the mill.
Exceedingly mealy. ("If you love something, let it go; if it turns up a second
time in your feed reader…") I’d probably do myself a big favor to clean house and begin agg-ain, eh? Just a thought. And I offer it because I’m sensing a
change in the rhythms of reading whatever aggregates, whatever the tired old net
drags in, day after day. Could be that I’ll switch back to Bloglines
and part with many of the feed beyond the blogroll. Could be that I’ll
stick with Google and still drop some of the hangers-on and clutter.
Whatever can be said of it, I probably shouldn’t be taking so much pleasure in
releasing 100+ unread entries to the ether with a single click most days, as if
clearing my feed-reader is the same as clearing my mind.