Confession Time

Yikes!  In the spring, in my Long Creative Project Group, I admitted to my friends the primary reason I don't post on this blog as often as I'd like: 

GOOGLE READER!!

Blessing and curse, you are, GR.  

If you don't know what it is, but you are interested in blogs at all, come along and be addicted with me, won't you?!  Google Reader lets you subscribe to your favorite blogs.  When you open it, you see a list of the blogs you like; new posts are highlighted so you can quickly decide which and/or whether to read.  

It's my crack, everyone.  

I used to read magazines, but now, my magazines just sit in piles around the house gathering dust (so why even get magazines?  well, what else can you get with those last 2641 miles on that airline you never plan to fly again?!).  Magazines are not as portable as an iPhone with Google Reader loaded up.  

So why am I confessing this now?  For one thing, I have crossed an invisible line: I'm FORTY now.  It's time to come clean on some things.  Even if they aren't so life and death.  

And the real real reason is:

I just clicked on something in the sidebar of Google Reader that says "Trends" and I found the following fascinating (highly embarrassing?!) information about my reading habits: 

From your 212 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 1,057 items, clicked 55 items,starred 5 items, and emailed 1 items.

Since August 12, 2007 you have read a total of 57,043 items.

Whoa.  

OK, people, I am not good at math, but I can't help noticing it's been pretty much exactly five years since I started using GR.  In the interim, I have apparently read some 11,000+ items per year.  Close to 1000 items a month.  Jiminy Cricket and other oaths and exclamations!!  I tend to blame it on my kids, but I owe them an apology: the slovenly state of my home has found its cause.  

In fact, much as some want and need to pin all that goes wrong on childhood matters (which is often legitimate but can still be carried to extremes), I am tempted to place all I haven't accomplished in the last five years on the figurative shoulders of GR.  Tempted, I say.  But that wouldn't actually make sense: I admit, I am the one who is fixated on that icon on my phone, and who nearly literally has itchy fingers if it's left unpushed for too long.  

So what to do?  I don't want to give it up entirely but I do think I have been "overindulging" for quite some time now.  Do you like GR?  What are your "stats"?  How do you manage it?

PS. In the spirit of true confession, I suppose it would be wrong to step away from this post without noting which blogs are my favorite.  Again, this is according to Google Reader Trends so it must be true (huh?!).  Actually, I find it interesting to note, if you asked me to name my favorites off the top of my head, I'm not sure all listed here would make it.  There are several which are most often clicked because the posts are short or all photos and that's just easier to look at.  Said the girl who loves to knock you over with verbiage, if and when she posts.... 

Reading trends (last 30 days)

Read

Clicked

Starred

Emailed

Mobile

Subscription	# Read	% Read
theclothesmakethegirl	47	87%
A Holy Experience	33	79%
Mark's Daily Apple	30	100%
What I Wore 2Day	30	100%
Sit at my table	27	100%
Nom Nom Paleo	25	100%
The Healthy Home Economist	25	81%
Fashion For Giants	24	96%
Myrna Giesbrecht	22	100%
The Pleated Poppy	22	100%