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i rode to the library this morning to return some books. i'd already renewed them once before (online), and even though i could've renewed them again, i felt bad because they were just sitting around in my house being unread. i was halfway through arthur c. clarke's light of other days, about wormhole peepshows, but i just couldn't continue reading it anymore because the writing is totally crap.

my mother called me from washington dc in the late morning. my parents were minutes away from their 13 hour flight to beijing, but my mother wanted me to remind me to mail a letter for her. after a bacon & egg sandwich for lunch, i went out again.

i thought it'd be warmer and the weather forecast predicted a pleasant 60°+ day, but the temperature stayed in the 50's. it was a cold trip biking to the supermarket in my t-shirt. with so many flowering trees in bloom, it would've been nice to ride around the neighborhood getting some snapshots, but i'm waiting for a warmer day to do that.

i've been reading up on fried chicken recipes. why use shortening instead of oil to fry the chicken? and apparently an authentic crispy skin is nothing more than flour. i was thinking i could use a combination of panko crumbs, sort of what i did for the tonkatsu last night. a lot of recipes also required a large thick pot. i could probably get away with what i have, but i probably want to invest in a cast iron pot at some point.

i was also reading up on canola oil. i know it's supposed to be a healthier kind of cooking oil, but what exactly is canola? turned out canola is a marketing name that stands for "canadian oil, low acid." it's actually made from rapeseed, but "rapeseed oil" is a harder sell for obvious reason.

i ate the rest of my tonkatsu for dinner, this time remembering to supplement my meal with a bowl of miso soup. watched a great frontline episode about how obama passed the health care bill.