O.K., so I have an embarrassing admission to make: I hardly read the news. Several of my best friends are journalists. Believe me, this is not something that I am proud of.

I get most of my information about what might be going on in the world by reading headlines, finding tidbits online + from word of mouth. I used to read the news all the time, but now I only seem to make time for pleasure reading (Haruki Murakami‘s 1Q84 at the moment) + play reading (which probably counts as pleasure, despite being work).

what tiles my desk/nyc/july 15, 2012

This ends here!

How on earth can I expect to responsibly share my sense of Taiwan’s place on the world stage without being on top of current events? So: I pledge to read The New York Times and Taipei Times everyday.  (Well, at least the Front Page, Op-Eds + Arts sections.)

I have been checking out Taipei Times all week + my first thought is that there are a whole lot of names that I do not recognize. I have actually started to take notes. Honestly, without much prior knowledge of Taiwan’s major political players + their platforms, it is the only way for me to keep track of the reports that I am reading. I have a Google Docs spreadsheet where I have been jotting down people, places + groups that seem relevant, as well as a seperate list of things to look up.

such as the land dispute over Huangyan Island, aka Scarborough Shoal, aka Bajo de Masinloc

+ the imprisonment of former President Chen Shui Bian (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Interestingly enough, there has been a good deal of conflicting coverage this week on the state of  US-Taiwan relations. On Tuesday, I read this Op-Ed, which outlines a decline in relations, then read this article on Saturday in which Raymond Burghartd, Chariman of the American Institute in Taiwan, is credited with statements that relations are strong. Something tells me that this might become one of my focuses.

Ima round this one out with a jam that I consider a classic: “I Try,” Talib Kweli feat. Mary J. Blige.