Okay, I'm over my crankiness about the DK4 setup at least. For better or for worse, I find I'm spending more time reading diaries and (as you can see) am venturing out a bit to write my own. Maybe I don't feel quite as intimidated since in a sense we are all starting over in terms of how the site works.
One thing that I really like (and some people really complain about) is the personal diary stream. (Except maybe for the choice of words there.) I am not missing anything from favorite writers and have followed several groups and tags too. I can start on the Front Page, check out the recommended diaries, check out the community (rescued) diaries on the top, and then check out the diaries in my stream.
Not only that, but when I read someone's diary, I see what they are recommending, and I click on those too. The only problem is that you have to be careful to check the date on the diary. I admit reading some interesting old diaries from 2007, which is fine, except it's good to know it's not something that just happened!
I'm going to try to publish this now (in the middle of my night) and see if it works (or if I'll get cranky again). In any case, if anyone comments, I'll answer tomorrow.