Minako

Wow, I haven't been here for over a year :animeswea... but I'll post this here, because I really like this recipe! [U][B]Salmon BLT's[/B][/U] I had this at a restaurant once, and I loved it so much that I make them all the time! [B]Ingredients[/B] 1 Salmon Fillet -- any will do. I'll often use the frozen, individually packed ones from Sam's Club. I personally like ones that have been seasoned/marinated a bit. Sometimes they can be thick, so I'll cut them in half width-wise (-->take the knife, insert it from the side and cut it in half) 1 Tomato, sliced 2 whole strips of Bacon (who doesn't like bacon??) 1 piece of Lettuce 2 slices Whole Wheat bread Some Mayo [B]Preparation[/B] This is a very flexible recipe, you can make them however you like! Today we didn't have lettuce, so we didn't use it. *shrug* I usually stack it in the order I'll mention, but it really doesn't matter. I've also seen this made with scallops (surf and turf blt's, on the Today show this morning!). Fry up the Salmon to your liking (we usually leave it a little raw in the middle, since it cooks itself a bit). Toast the bread in a toaster, and layer on the mayo, lettuce, salmon, tomato slices, and bacon on the bottom half of the bread, put on the top and PRESTO! You have a yummy Salmon BLT!

So, I'm a daughter of a breeder, so I've been around dogs *literally* my entire life. We first had two fox terriers, and we ended up giving the other one away (they didn't get along anymore or something) but what I remember of the one we had, Nette, is when she was really old (like blind,deaf, can barely walk anymore old). She was quite the "whipper snapper" and I loved her to death. I was 14 when she died, she was 18 and a half ha ha! However, my mom started breeding Giant Schnauzers when I was very young, getting our first one when I was about 3 or 4. He was a loveable guy, and then we got Paavo (my all time favorite of our dogs, EVER) though his life was cut short by cancer. We've had many Giants since then, but now my mom is also breeding Miniature Schnauzers. The first one we ever got was also my first dog of my own, Lissu. She's still alive and kicking at 9 years old! I have to say that for my favorite breed, it would have to be [B]Giant Schnauzers[/B]. Yes, they are big, black, with beards, and often cropped ears. Many people can be afraid of them, but they are really "gentle giants." (forgive the pun) The thing is with this breed is that they were designed to be working dogs, bred to protect their owner's farms in Germany (also some herding..a farm dog!), so they may not be the best dog for a first time owner, but they just hold a special place in my heart. And so does my mini, lissu!! They are REALLY smart, and have SUCH a sense of humor! I hate to be frank, but I really don't like most of the dogs you guys have mentioned. You see, I worked at a "doggy day care" for two summers, and you see a wide variety of breeds working at such a place. You also see the downsides of having such breeds. (I honestly do NOT like labradors. there ARE cool ones, but there aren't very many in the normal, everyday population. They just aren't that smart.) That job really sucked, it was the worst one I've ever had. Sorry guys!

I will be doing nothing. I personally [B]dread[/B] the holiday. It's overly commercialized and makes us single people feel bad. I actually got a boyfriend on Valentine's day two years ago, so it kind of ruined it now that I don't have a significant other on that day. Last year I went to a concert (John Mayer) and this year, I'll be preparing for a study abroad to China on the 16th. A guy friend from another forum promised to send me a Valentine's day e-card, and to "keep me company" but it's just not the same since he lives on the opposite side of the continent.*sigh* Like Sandy said, in Finland it's "Friend's Day," which I think is a MUCH better idea. Yeah, I hate this commercial holiday. Happy *early* Single's Awareness Day!

Personally, I LOVE dating. Well, I've only ever dated one guy, but when I did it was just lovely. I loved that feeling of being on a date, and we ended up becoming official a few months later (after many MANY "dates"). Mind, this was (oh man) two years ago. We didn't know each other very well on that first date, but it lead to my best friend and boyfriend (we didn't last long as a romantic couple, but we were still friends). So I don't know if knowing each other really well would affect it, but it was a great way to get to know him and to keep the conversation going! ;) MAN I'd love to go on a date again! ha ha

I do that too! I look for guy's wedding rings, well, for the obvious reason. But then when I notice the girls' wedding rings (which seems to be an uncomfortable amount of my friends), deep down, I get sort of jealous. I know that seems a bit childish, but it gets lonely sometimes....yeah. wow that was awkward...:animeswea

One morning, I woke up to my alarm and pushed snooze a few times and freaked out that I was late! I got there, just in time, but an HOUR EARLY. so I just chilled out there until my class started (there wasn't anyone there). I realized that in my early-morning-disorientation, my normal routine, I failed to recognize the hour hand on my clock. *smacks forehead* oy.

I actually loved Juno. I thought it was hilarious and witty, and the soundtrack is pretty awesome, in my opinion. (It turned me on to Kimya Dawson, actually.) And the character of Juno reminds me a lot of a friend of mine (sans the pregnant part), with which I saw the movie. There are great one-liners, such as my favorite,[SPOILER] when she's going into labor, she says "Thundercats go!"[/SPOILER] heh. I also loved how sweet it was. Her relationship with her family, and Bleeker (Michael Cera), as well as with the adoptive parents is just SWEET. [SPOILER]She was just so [I]vulnerable[/I] when she was in the process of giving birth to her baby[/SPOILER]. I am kind of crazy about this movie, heh. I'm rather tempted to go and see it again. Any other thoughts?

I absolutely LOVE [B]popcorn[/B]. And only Popsecret popcorn. The 100 calorie ones are pretty good, but I love the snack sized homestyle kind. Heaven in a bag, I'm telling you! I also love chocolate, but what girl doesn't? X3

I get that feeling right before my final exams here in college. :animedepr They're so important for your grades so if you fail (like I did last semester...oops) it could mean failing the class! Luckily, I didn't fail the class in which I had the bombed final, thank goodness for curves!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Wow I haven't been here in a while... :animeswea Well, I first had Inuyashafan418, which is pretty straight forward. 4-18 is my birthday. :) However, I got too many "OMGZ Inuyasha R0xx0rz!" from myO, so I abandoned it. (I deleted the account on myO..) But now I'm [B]Minako[/B], which first stemmed from a character I used to draw of the same name, and I also have wondered if anyone would know the Sailor Moon reference [SPOILER]Minako is Sailor Venus' name in Japan, heh heh[/SPOILER]. Only one or two people have! And Sailor Moon was the first anime I'd ever watched and is still one of my favorites. I also like the name Minako. :)[/COLOR]

I KNOW I'm getting this: (my mom just ordered it) [IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h274/Minako_06/51tCG9fQlcL_SS400_.jpg?t=1196105909[/IMG] And i'd also like: [IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h274/Minako_06/Wii_main_0909-1158254665367-440_330.jpg?t=1196105958[/IMG] as well as: [IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h274/Minako_06/nintendo_ds_lite.jpg?t=1196106002[/IMG]

A thing I'll look back on, as corny as it sounds, is my first boyfriend. (and only boyfriend, as of now...) It only lasted one and a half months, but I was so happy and...well, happy. I'll always think of it fondly. :)

I usually love [URL="http://www.questionablecontent.net"]Questionable Content[/URL], I love the story and it's wry, slice-of-life, indie-rock humor. Though lately I've been getting into [URL="http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php"]Gunnerkrigg Court[/URL]. GC is sort of a fantasy story about two girls and the strange things that happen at their school. The art is fascinating and I really enjoy the story line. The backlog isn't TOO big, so it's easily doable in a few days (I think I did mine over two, including homework and other stuff). I'm also a fan of Megatokyo, (the now-ended) Inverloch, and The Phoenix Requiem (from the same artist as Inverloch), Red String and Ganbare Shimura San!. Though my list of favorites is massive, so this is only a fraction of the ones I read everyday, heh.

I have recently stumbled across Maple Story ([url]http://maplestory.nexon.net/[/url]) a free RPG game. It sounds really cool, and seems a bit to me like Gaia ([url]www.gaiaonline.com[/url]) However, Gaia isn't really an RPG, i think, but more as a social network. But anyway, I wanted to ask those of you who have played it/heard of Maple Story, how do you like it/dislike it? Why? Is it worth downloading? I just didn't want to download it and then realize that I didn't like it. Thanks!

Well, I only had one class today (as usual for Thursdays...and Tuesdays, for that matter), and I had lunch with a lovely friend, and I've been working on a paper ever since. I'm getting tired of examining Buddhist and Daoist text by now (it's what, been almost 4 hours now?), but i only have one more page to do, so it's not that bad. The question remains: Can I finish this in one hour, when [I]Grey's Anatomy[/I] starts?

So, let me explain. My mom will be in Japan for 2 days or so while she's visiting my dad in China. I want her to bring me back some candy or something, since she'll be in a little town. I know I want Pocky, but what do you guys suggest? (And keep in mind, it has to be easy for her to find, and she doesn't know any Japanese at all) And as for candy, I don't necessarily like any gummy-fruity-candies, I like chocolate and others kind of like it (caramel, truffles...). I'd appreciate any feedback, since she's leaving the day after tomorrow! Thanks!

I remember, I was in 8th grade, and running out the door to catch the bus while I saw the news saying a plane had hit one of the towers. At that point they were dismissing it as an accident, and that's what I believed (being what, 13?). When I got to school I heard talk of terrorists amongst my classmates, I hated them anyway, and I didn't understand. Our first class was religion class (I went to a Lutheran school) and our pastor who taught it said we should go into our pseudo-science-lab (it was for 7th and 8th graders, sheesh) and watch CNN. By that time, the first tower had been destroyed. My friend (who was there not 2 days before that! she has a picture of her and her sister in front of the towers on September 9th) was in tears, and I was shocked to see the second tower be destroyed live on tv. It was shortly thereafter that we resumed classes, and during break, our class was worried that our school would be targeted, but we were young and scared, and it would have been highly irrational since it was a tiny school, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Wisconsin. heh. I didn't (and still don't) know anybody that was there, but 2,977 lives were lost that day, and the economy was almost destroyed by the loss of the towers. It still amazes me that towers that were designed to take a plane crash into them are GONE. There's nothing left, and it feels like an empty crater in America's heart. It didn't affect me as much as some others, but I still feel...sad.

I share a birthday, April 18th, with: [B]Kenny Ortega[/B] director/choreographer of [I]High School Musical[/I] [B]Conan O'Brian[/B] [B]Princess Sayako[/B] of Japan [B]Melissa Joan Hart[/B] [B]Suri Cruise[/B] the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, oy. and on the OB I share a birthday with: [B]Shibo_Orgama, Stormbringer, Navi, Da popo, Isen`tar, dragonandante, coconuts1977, [/B]and [B]carezo[/B]

I don't know about the whole Quebec-independence-thing, but Montreal is a beautiful city! As to the topic on hand, I am a Finnish person (Finnish family and whatnot) who moved from Finland as a mere 2 year old to the States (by way of Germany, but that's not what's being addressed). As a child, I grew up with Finnish in my home, and English everywhere else. Yet, I have no accent when I speak English, but I do when I speak Finnish. When I was younger, I was very Finland-patriotic (which may be against Finnish nature). Finland-this, Finland that, though I never felt like I [I]belonged[/I] in the US. I'd visit Finland, and my Finnish would improve from the Finglish (finnish/english mix) that I'd speak at home, but it would get worse as time went on. I thought I knew everything there was to do with Finland, just because I was a Finn. However, I was very wrong. I didn't know how wrong I was until I went there for a year. I realized that I did not know that much at ALL about my very own culture. I mean, yeah, I knew the stuff that I did at home with my parents, but I felt like I was not as much of a Finn as I thought. I felt very out of place for a while there. As one of my friends put it, "So you don't belong in the US, and you don't belong here [Finland], so you don't belong anywhere, do you? That's so sad!" For a while I almost believed it, that meant I could go anywhere, without feeling grounded anywhere. It was rather refreshing, but now I know that [B]I am more of an American that I ever was a Finn.[/B] Not that I'm saying that I'm not a Finn. I'm very proud of that fact, and I'd love to move to Helsinki! It's just that America is my home, and always will be. Even though my homeland is Finland, the US is where my heart is. So to answer your question, I feel like it could go either way. I felt like I had SOME kind of a hold onto the Finnish culture because I knew the Finnish language (it didn't hurt at all), but yet I felt distant from it, because I hadn't experienced all those Finnish things that one would experience growing up in Finland, and spending time there. I think one could experience the culture of one's home without the language (almost like myself), but it certainly helps, because it DOES play a part.

As for physical attributes, I look for (as cliche as it sounds) tall, dark, and handsome. Meaning, I like a guy that is taller than me, which isn't that hard, since i'm 5'6'' (my last boyfriend was 5'10''), and dark hair, normally brown, but I'm not particular. Redheads are nice too. :) I usually like guys that are sort of in-shape, but not necessarily go-to-the-gym-everyday-macho-guy, but when it comes down to it, weight doesn't really matter. By the way, glasses, nice eyes, and a great smile are hot. I also like a guy who can make me laugh, but yet intelligent. Being a Christian, I'm also looking for a good Christian guy to lift me up in my faith. I also want a guy who's somewhat strong, so that I can feel safe with him. And those guys looking for some "nookie" don't look here, I'm waiting until I'm married. If a guy can respect that, that's amazing. But the biggest thing that gets me attracted to a guy is his sense of humor, his smile and/or eyes, and his faith. Not that I'm that shallow as to not date non-christians, but I feel I'd have a lot more in common with a Christian. And he also has to like the same-ish music (doesn't necessarily have to like ALL of it) and at least be open to the idea of anime. (I got my last boyfriend, who was very anti-anime to watch Fruits Basket, and he liked it! heh heh)

Big Sumo Wrestler: So you think you can take me on? Little Sumo Wrestlers: WE ARE NOT WORTHY!!!

"I knew I shouldn't have let Joe convince me to jump into the crocodile reserve!! That 100 bucks so wasn't worth iiiittt!!"

I once worked at a [B]doggy daycare[/B]. It was horrible, 'nuff said. And at my high school, we had to *cough*wereforcedto*cough* do 16 hour of "community service," most of it had to be at the school thrift shop, where the profits go to the school. (I went to a small christian school) And I was working one of the shifts with my friend, and this guy comes in, with a handkerchief wrapped around his head, and is very "feminine" let's just say. (We called him the transvestite.) He claimed that he bought an electric shaver that was in the glass case (don't ask me why) and said that the clerk that sold it to him let him come back and pick it up. Ok, that was fine and dandy, but when we asked for the receipt, he kept insisting that he had already bought it and wanted it. We just asked for the receipt, that's all. He finally said that he'd go and get it, and we never saw him again. Me and my friend laughed so hard when he left. He was just such a funny character, and we couldn't help it! That's about as weird as it gets for me.

Thanks again guys for all the comments. I now know what protocol I need to follow to try to keep myself there, and it'll end with me meeting with the dean of my college within the university (i.e. Mine's the agricultural and life sciences one) and pleading my case for him, and telling him what I'll do differently next year. I think i have a good argument, and I know I'll do better next year. I can kiss my social life good bye for the next 3 years, but it'll be worth it in the end. And Kenshin, "Your world isn't falling apart. Far from it in fact." What falling apart is for me is different than what it is for you. You've been through a lot, and I'm not saying that it's nothing that you've been through. I've had a relatively easy life, and school means the world to me, especially because I've always wanted to go there. I'm sorry for what you've had to deal with, and I'm glad that you've made it out ok. That's so great for you, and I'm glad. :) And right now, i'm doing ok. just a little impatient at my school because they're taking their sweet time in emailing me the form that I need...I'm still not happy about my performance, but I think I'll be ok.

Thanks, you guys, for all the stories and advice. I appreciate it. And James, I'll try to clear up my situation for you. I have been going to my dream university this past year (even coming out of a rough Senior year of HS, grades wise. I still had a 3.2 back then). At my freshman orientation, I got some bad advice as to taking Calc and Chem at the same time (I shouldn't have done that, stupid "advisors"), and I struggled my fall semester. I got a 1.75 GPA. Then, I was put on Academic probation, where I had to improve my grades, or they'll ask me to leave for at least a year (In the mean time, I need to do something, i.e. take classes somewhere else, to prove that I've done something to merit my re-entry into the university). My spring semester was not any better, if not worse, than my fall semester. I barely squeaked by math and chem (I was CERTAIN I failed chem, but I ended up getting a D), and the only class that I got a good grade (and actually liked) was English. Now I have a 1.5 GPA, and I need a 2.0 for this semester to keep me here, but I'll be taken off of probation when my CUMULATIVE GPA is 2.0. Mind, I've wanted to go to this school since I was [B]8 years old[/B], so I was very upset when I found out that I might not go back. I cried on and off for the rest of the day, going into the next day (when I had an exam). I've worked SO hard to get here (it's a very exclusive school, usually only the top 10% of the class gets accepted, and I wasn't near close to that). Now I am not certain as to whether or not I AM on probation, since my account online hasn't said anything yet. Yet. Then again, I could be mistaken as to the regulations. I'm only reciting what my chem professor told me. Now, I'm just waiting for an email from the school, telling me that I'm still on probation and can stay, or I have to leave... I'm so scared that I won't be able to go back. It's become my second home, and I'd created sort of a "family" there, with my friends. We looked out for one another, and I miss them already (I haven't seen them in only like 4 days). I recognize that there could be underlying issues. I even went to a counselor with my issues, and sometimes depression. I've done a lot to try to get over this depression (not that I'm sad or anything, but I just don't care anymore, and I'm really tired all the time). I'm even thinking about medication, and I'll ask my doctor about it when I see her for my check-up on Thursday. I've never really felt that I don't know what tomorrow will bring, like I do now. I always have a plan, and now I don't...Keep those stories/advice coming, because this still is a difficult time for me.