Thing 4: So many great blogs, so little time!

The Thing 4 task is to sign up for and start using google reader, which I did about 6 months ago. It was not my first reader experience. A few years ago a dear friend of mine recommended FeedDemon as a first-time reader, and I really loved it. I used it pretty regularly to keep current on my favorite blogs (at that time mostly craft blogs like WiseCraft) until grad school began at which point I had no time to read anything other than assigned articles and textbooks. But this assignment has gotten me all jazzed about blogs again, mostly by making me think about what reader I prefer and why, and by suggesting some pretty awesome blogs to follow.

So I started by tooling around with google reader again. It came pretty highly recommended by 21 Things, so I figured it was worth a shot, but, try as I may I just didn't cotton to it. So instead I decided to start over with FeedDemon. I began by re-installing just to make a fresh start of it. The install was super easy and asked me whether I wanted to sync to Google Reader. I did, and it handily imported all my feeds with the click of the mouse (and the provision of my google account information). And so far me likey. It defaults to a view of all unread blog entries in newest date order, but you can also view by blog. You can also manipulate how many entries show on your screen, and how much of each entry you would like to see. It just feels more organized (and more organizable) to me. I especially like that FeedDemon is its own program that I open from my desktop, and that it isn't another tab I have to have open in my web browser. Plus, it's prettier.

Next I started checking out the blogs 21 Things suggested. Some of them I'd seen, some I had not. I am now following Bees Knees Reads, which led me to the delightful Mouses Houses, which has nothing to do with libraries but is so freaking cute! I also started following my local library's news feed. They don't provide a FeedDemon follow option so I followed them with my google account then resynced and presto chango there it was. Yes, me likey FeedDemon. We shall be friends once again.