I am addicted to news. It all started a few years ago. I blame the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center and the Indymedia movement in general. It's not entirely their fault.

The addiction became apparent when websites started using RSS feeds for news and podcasts. Things began to spin out of control. I tried every reader out there. Not one was good enough. I wrote my own web based reader using MagpieRSS but my app sucked. I was depressed. Nothing allowed me to read *everything*.

Then it happened. You lifted me out of the low moment. I had nearly given up on you RSS. Google Reader, you changed everything. Our first moments together were bliss. I could read *everything*.

But then things started to change. Soon you began recommending things to me, making it easy to add other feeds, share stories with buttons, and other goodies. Despite your valant efforts, soon I was strangled by that old depressing feeling. Google Reader, even with you I couldn't read *everything*.

It didn't take long before I became used to your 1000+ unread items. You didn't give up on me. You worked hard to keep me happy. You learned alchemy and started playing with Magic. Things began to feel normal and good again... for a while. I just couldn't stop creating more tags and I kept adding more feeds. Even with your Android app, there wasn't enough time in the day for us to spend together. Before long, I began avoiding you trying to run away upset that together we couldn't read *everything*.

Then I remembered something you once told me. Google Reader, I remember you saying softly "Heya Dan, just letting you know that I've been tracking and monitoring *everything* we do together." Several years later, thousands of feeds later, and tens of thousands of read items later, your pretty Trend graphs told me what I read most. Turns out, everything was the opposite of what I wanted! Maybe less is more.

You should know, I think it's a bit creepy that you can do all of this. Your convenience, ease of use, and our history together have ensnared me. And even though you're not the new kid on the block, I love you just the same. Please don't hurt me.

Arm in arm, let's show the world what we do together. Below are my most read feeds.