Serenity with Nathan Fillion and Sean Maher. I liked Firefly so it was only natural that I would like the movie. Very nice fight sequences, though only a martial artist would notice that the people are deliberately going out of their way not to hurt the actors. There must have been a dozen missed opportunities for a joint break. Nonetheless, I was glad they tied up some loose ends from the series, and also frustrated that they didn't tie up ones that can now never be tied up. While watching the series I guess I never noticed how much Chinese they actually spoke, though that might be because their Chinese (I have it on authority) is terrible. My Chinese, on the other hand, is improving now that Feifei and I are watching the series while she points out the Chinese. The tones aren't as hard as I had thought, though I do find it interesting that in Chinese tones are used for denotation, forming specific words, while in Western languages they are used mainly for connotation, conveying emotion, sarcasm, etc. Anyway, Serenity rocks so much more with a Chinese translator by your side.

Spring has finally sprung here in Uppsala. A tad late on account of there being a huge blizzard at the beginning of the month that was a final farewell to snow. The days have been getting longer and longer, good in a way but also frustrating cuz I was just getting used to all the darkness. Plus, seeing the sun setting before one has done any work at all is a great academic motivator; you're finished with work by 3PM. Still, I'm very much looking forward to spring again, seeing everything green and lush and alive again. Hopefully I can go on another of those hikes I went on back in the fall, and this time not have my camera screw up.

Also, Easter vacation is coming up and I plan on using that time to go to The Old Country: Poland and Lithuania! Sure, I'll miss out on the Swedish Easter but as I hear it it's just like the Christmas food and such. Besides, I'll be getting the good, authentic, Polish stuff. I can't make it home for Easter so this is the next best thing. And I'll get to explore the country just as spring begins. I'm leaving the 7th and coming back the 18th. It'll be great!

They found more Martian bacteria in an asteroid. They say the bacteria can get all of its energy from minerals, which got me thinking: if minerals are all they need, and they were on an asteroid, given the right conditions they could evolve into space-dwelling life forms.

And now you can instant message God Himself.