Thursday's TGC...plus a good laugh

Well, the Year of the Rabbit is finally here.  We had a fairly quiet night in Taipei, which surprised me for some reason. If I had really thought about it, i probably would have remembered from the previous years and the fact that no one is actually from Taipei....anyway. Happy New Year!

Tips:
1. Guide to Literary Agents has a handful of "Don'ts" when submitting your query letter from agent Jon Sternfeld. Click here for the list.
2.Rants and Ramblings has a great article that gives some guidelines for an "Agent Agreement".  You must read  it if you have no idea what that is or are about to start that adventure!
3. DNA Writers' post title says it all, "How to write a bio for your query (and happy Groundhog Day)".  Just click here for all those great insights and tips.

Giveaways:
1.Marcia Hoehne has started her monthly book giveaway. This month is Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. Click here to enter.
2. Musings of Me is giving away some really great primary teacher resources for home or for school. You can click here for the details.

Contests:
1. WOW! has their Winter 2011 Flash Fiction Contest ending on Feb. 28th. Registration is only 10USD, or 20USD if you want a critique. Click here for details.
2. C.Hope Clark shared on her blog about a contest with Folgers...the coffee. She writes, If you like writing lyrics to little diddies, or you enjoy a microphone, this is a cool contest. Click here for more details...there are some pretty amazing prizes, even for just voting.


That's all I have for you today. 
But, I'll end with a story about loosing my mind at 70...from yesterday's post.


The Hubs is on vacation this week, sort of. He's working on a paper for a class, so not really on vacation. But, one day he told me to go out for a jog or get a massage. I thought to myself, "I'll go get a quick massage at the new place near our house and then go back and get Matthea and take her out for walk. Double YEAH!"
I should have known something was up when she asked me where I had pain, not what massage do you want. *shaking my head*
Anyway, I told her that my neck and shoulders could use some work. So, she gives me her arch support (yes, directly from her shoe) and had me do some squats, then walk around for a few minutes. What that all had to do with my neck and shoulders ...something about the way my feet not being right. 
Then she took the first torture tool and began to scrape my head with it, then my face which didn't hurt so much, but then she did something to the tops of my ears that almost made me cry. Seriously, I was thinking I have to get out of here...but she just kept talking and talking and telling me not to worry.  
The best part (very sarcastic here) was the mallet (yes a real mallet) and a stick that looked sort of like a dowel rod, but bigger in diameter. This was the second torture tool. She proceeded to pound the rod around my head, my face, my shoulders, my neck, my back, my legs....some taps were light and others were not so. In fact, I do have bruises and am still sore after day two. Apparently the places where it hurt showed areas of my body, such as certain organs that are not doing well.
My time ended with a foot print. I then realized that she was "reading" my footmarks.  The darker spots showed more areas in my body that are not doing well.  That was when she told me that when I turn 70, I will loose my memory. I laughed because there are days when I have already lost it. (I don't believe in those things...I'm a Christian so I know that God has my days numbered and planned out).
I returned home two hours later. Hubs was not exactly happy with me and I don't blame him one bit. But, all this cost me about 3USD...
I would not call this place a massage place, but a mixture of chiropractic and massage(sort of) and a mixture of Christian and New Age.  (we talked about Christian things and she prayed while working).  
To say, I will not be returning.  I already know that I have a lot of stress in my life and that I haven't been exercising like I should. But, I don't really want that sort of pain inflicted on me. Ever. Again!
I would rather run sprints till I vomited before having that rod hammered into any part of my body.


Sorry no pictures, and I'm not returning just to get some for ya either. *sticking out my tongue and laughing*.