I'm going to have to get one heck of a carnivorous plant if it's going to be able to dispose of a person's worth of meat all at once and therefore liberate me from the bother of rotting corpses under my desk. And my office is not big enough to accommodate Audrey II.

Do carnivorous plants smell bad?

The other half of the GothFashion Hivemind had a collection of carnivorous plants, and none of them were ooky-smelling.

I started to glance through one of her big books about carnivorous plants, and she snatched it out of my hands, saying "No. You should not look at the pictures in this book, not with your issues about spiders." I decided to trust her on that count.

None of mine have mentioned raises, large or otherwise.

And yet, oddly, I have heard much about heavier workloads.

Jilli, you should (NOT) have seen the spider I shooed out of the apartment the other day. I know not from where I mustered the presence of mind to catch it and toss it out the window.

And yet, oddly, I have heard much about heavier workloads.

Yep. There's been some interesting gossip flying around right now, thanks to it being yearly review time.

I know not from where I mustered the presence of mind to catch it and toss it out the window.

You're braver than I am, that's for sure. I would have had hysterics, and then called all my friends until I found someone to come over and deal with it.

I haven't gotten a raise since last April, when I was given what's technically on paper a raise but which actually eliminated overtime pay in favor of salary. Funny how all my motivation to work any more 70 hour weeks just mysteriously disappeared at the same time .

Yep. There's been some interesting gossip flying around right now, thanks to it being yearly review time.

I *am* going to ask you about this over the weekend.

What an interesting book I've discovered

Global divas : Filipino gay men in the diaspora, by Martin F. Manalansan

Here's the contents note

The borders between bakla and gay -- Speaking in transit : queer language and translated lives -- "Out there" : the topography of race and desire in the global city -- The biyuti and drama of everyday life -- "To play with the world" : the pageantry of identities -- Tita Aida : intimate geographies of suffering -- Locating the diasporic deviant/diva.

(published in 2003, ISBN 0822332175 if anyone cares that much)

Also, when I leant my hitherto-unsuspected fetishist buddy the book on alternate lifestyle etiquette that I bought because it amused me and looked neat next to Miss Manners on the bookshelf, I unexpectedly helped him with some social faux pas he'd been making when travelling in those circles. The things that one never knows will come in handy.

edit: slumbernut! Plus, how can you not love a book that discusses diasporic divas?

I have a question for the Vegas people. If the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay end up being the same price on Travelocity, which one would you choose?