Am I the only person that thinks crab spiders are just adorable?!

I’ve made it a point in the past to rarely kill spiders, since I not only find them fascinating but they keep the pesky bugs at bay. If a spider wandered into a place I didn’t want it, I would generally take it outside in a glass. But, unfortunately for spider-kind, they’ve become a little too numerous in my house, and I think I’m going to have to start vacuuming up their cushy little habitat. I’m doing a complete overhaul on my house (and pack-rat tendencies), and throwing out all the junk around which they’ve made their homes.

Most of these guys, which I freely anthropomorphize, are of the following species:


Funnel Web Spider (family Agelenidae)
photo by Chris Benson

They are, admittedly, a bit on the creepy side, but their sheet webs are extremely efficient at catching insect intruders.

Links to more images and info:
Spiders in the Home
Photos of Utah Spiders

But my latest encounter was with the adorable crab spider:

Crab Spider (family Thomisidae)
photo by Chris Benson

They move just like crabs, and, unlike the super-speedy funnel web guys, these spiders move slowly. When approached, they generally sort of cower but then hold still, waiting for the observer to move on. Too cute! I couldn’t possibly kill one of these.

Links to more images and info:
Everything About
Spiders of Utah

I’m also terribly fond of the jumping spider. Another total cutie:


Jumping Spider (family Salticidae)
photo by Carol Davis

This image makes them look monstrous, but they’re really petite little guys.

Links to more images and info:
Featured Creatures
Wild Utah Spiders

So now that I’ve shared my inner spider-geek, I’d like to pose a question from the grammar/spelling-geek…

Which is correct:
“kept at bay“?
or
“kept at bey“?

It’s actually been less than a year since my last post?! I am truly amazed.

So, with all the craziness in our lives (and I mean cuh-ray-zee!), I just haven’t been able to think through a blog post, much less go to the trouble of POSTING one. But my cousin had a super-easy, transition-back-into-posting post that I simply couldn’t help but borrow.

It’s a game called Book Tag, which is kind of a tag-you’re-it sort of literary game. (Can you tell it’s been a long day by my ever-so-superfluous use of hyphens?)

Here are the rules:

1. Find the nearest book to you.
2. Name the book and author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog (or just reply to the post).
6. Tag three other people.

I didn’t actually get tagged, but there’s no rule against starting a new stream, so here goes…

Book: The Fountainhead
Author: Ayn Rand

“He would have none of what those big fellows tried to sell him. So it’s up to us, boys. You know, something different, unusual, but in good taste, and you know, different.”

I asked for this book for Christmas, and, sadly, I’ve made just slightly more progress on it than on my blog. =b However, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read, and I look forward to continuing, slowly though it goes.

Anyway, cool game. Thanks for sharing, Freezer Jam!

I tag Courtney B., Wendy A., and Frank B. (and ANYONE else who’d like to participate — please do)

Peace out.

Okay it’s late, and I really should be in bed, but I just have to post this really quickly!

I was playing around with face recognition software on the site www.myheritage.com, where you can upload a photo of your face and see what celebrities you look like. Turns out it’s highly inaccurate (big surprise), unless maybe I really do look like Jennifer Lopez, Bebe Neuwirth, and Roseanne Barr.

Anyhow, with the photo of my face on the screen, I started to examine how incredibly asymmetrical it is. I had a fantastic idea to test it out, and immediately opened up the photo in Photoshop to start playing.

Here are two images of me that show what I might look like if my face were actually symmetrical. Awesomely creepy! It’s me but not me:

And here is the original photo:

Obviously there are some factors that skewed the outcome of the images — lighting, posture, hairstyle, etc. — but still pretty incredible! I highly recommend giving this a try for yourselves.

Have y’all seen Susan Powter lately?! This is the woman that came at us from the TV screen in the 90s screaming “Stop the insanity!” and preaching her own brand of exercise and weight loss. You remember the one? With the spiky platinum blonde hair?

Well apparently she’s back, with a vengeance, and she’s gone all Ani DiFranco on us. I saw her appearing as a guest celebrity on an episode of VH1’s I Love The 90s (yes, I watch these shows, and no, I’m not ashamed), and I couldn’t believe what I saw! So, seeing as how my TV is on one side of me and my PC is on the other, I googled her without delay.

She’s back on the “fitness guru” circuit, having released a slew of new media, including a workout video called Trailer Park Yoga. But she’s also got this whole new anti-man thing going on. In fact, I was reading her long and rambling “about susan” section of her website, and she actually refers to us as hu-persons, rather than hu-mans. Wikipedia says that she describes herself now as a “radical feminist lesbian woman,” and, in true Ani DiFranco style, she has returned complete with tattoos, piercings, and crazy multi-colored hair.

This new Susan Powter is guaranteed to scare off a multitude of the women she’s trying to reach, but I really dig the freakshow. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Susan Powterrr

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, with plenty of nog and good tidings. We had a crazy good time, and Charlie was fully spoiled — it was great!

I must say, though,
I think
I received
the

greatest

gift

ever

given.

My dad gave me a selection of cds, which included an incredible find. Turns out he hadn’t really read the cd cover, but personally I feel privileged to have been on the receiving end of this oversight. This is the most awesome cd of all time! You must check it out.

A Gregorian Chant Tribute To Celine Dion at Amazon.com

I highly recommend following the link above to Amazon.com and listening to the audio samples of All By Myself and My Heart Will Go On, a couple of Celine classics.

Season’s Greetings from our little fam! Between the figgy pudding and visions of sugar plums, we haven’t had time to take a family photo. Willy didn’t mind at all, but Whiskey and Ginger were devastated. I’ve promised them that next year we’ll do the whole sh’bang: Dad, Mom, kid, dog, and cat. But until then I offer the following, wishing you a happy winter holiday of your choosing!

The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is hosting the Rebecca Ray Jazz Quintet for an evening of jazz.

From the ECOR website:

August 20th An Evening of Jazz - there will be two one-hour sets during the evening. Bring your own wine and favorite hors d’oeuvre. Cost is $10/couple.

The church is located at 1131 South Main Street in Centerville. (Click here for a map.) The concert will be held outdoors, weather permitting, but will move inside if necessary. The church will provide outdoor seating, but you are welcome to bring your own outdoor chairs or blankets if you prefer. You are also welcome to bring any food or drink you’d like. The event starts at 6:30 p.m., which allows a half hour for everyone to get settled. The music will begin at 7:00 p.m., and we’ll be playing two one-hour sets. The cost of the show is advertised as $10/couple. There will be a donation basket, rather than actual ticket sales, so individuals are welcome to pay $5 or whatever they are comfortable with. All proceeds go to the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with our music, we play mostly jazz standards, blues, and latin jazz. The ensemble includes vocals, alto saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. Hope you’ll join us!

As I imagined I would be, I was far too busy in the past couple weeks to post anything. Charlie turned one year old, Willy and I celebrated our fifth anniversary, and we drove ourselves mad with with a bevy, yes a bevy, of events and parties and such.

So I’ve been wondering… after hitting some huge milestones and having such amazing plans since I last wrote, what could I possibly write that would cover it all? Or which event should I focus on? So I decided not to write about any of it. Instead, I’ll just write some short fluff…

It occurred to me a few minutes ago that some people might find my eating habits pretty strange — or gross even. I just got home from work and needed a snack, so I broke out the wasabi fried peas. Next I moved on to the garlic stuffed green olives. And now I’m thinking of having some sardines on crackers. I don’t know, maybe this doesn’t sound too bad to some, but I’m pretty sure that most people I know would shudder at the thought.

So there’s today’s fluff — an example of typical Becky rambling. (Willy can certainly attest to this.) I hope I’ve not enlightened anyone in any way. So join me in talking about absolutely nothing important. Tell me your odd food choices, or feel free to heckle my lack of depth. Thank you.

A wasabi fried pea
(Yes, I actually photographed a pea for this post)

Ack! I’ve officially hit that time of year (besides Christmas, that is) when everything happens at once, and my schedule gets insane! Between weddings and babies and birthdays and anniversaries and showers and vacations and book clubs, things have gotten just a little out of hand. ‘Course I’m one of those people who thrive on a little crazy once in a while.

So tomorrow I am helping my mother-in-law throw a baby shower for my cousin Natalie. (She’s actually my mother-in-law’s cousin’s daughter-in-law — got that?) She and her husband Marty are having their first baby, and they’ve had quite a journey getting to this point. Several years ago, and only a few months after they’d gotten married, Marty was diagnosed with Leukemia. He endured a long battle with it, but finally, and luckily, he conquered. One of the lasting effects from the treatment, however, is an inability to father children… ever. Luckily, they planned ahead before he started treatment and were able to freeze some embryos (I think that’s how it works…or is it just fertilized eggs?) for later use.

So fast forward a few years, and the couple is ready to start a family. Apparently the in vitro costs about $10,000 or so, which, of course, they didn’t have lying around. So they applied for a grant that would pay for it. Only problem is that the application process for this grant is much like trying to adopt. They had to jump through so many hoops and interview so many times and even have someone come to inspect their home. When they were finally granted the funds, they began the agonizing process of preparing for the in vitro. I had no idea this whole thing was so involved. Poor Natalie had to undergo a hormonal treatment in which she gave herself daily injections and endured nausea and mood swings and all kinds of horrible side effects. After all that, they implanted three or four embryos and then had to wait to see if any of them would take.

Well… first try… and… nothing. Absolutely devastating!! Sure they could try again, but get this — they had to start the entire application process over again! My heart just broke for them. I get a little teary just thinking about it. But, hey! Fast forward again… They made it through the whole process a second time… and… Jacob William Moore is healthy as can be and due to be delivered on August 8th (which just so happens to be Charlie’s first birthday :)).

So tomorrow is the shower. I know most people hate shower games (or at least claim to hate them), but I figured I’d prepare a couple anyway. In one game, you’re supposed to match the crazy baby names to the celebrities that came up with them. For instance, here is an excerpt, already matched:

Johnny Depp      –     Lily-Rose Melody
Erykah Badu      –     Puma & Seven
Penn Gillette       –     Moxie CrimeFighter

It ought to be kinda fun. Anyway, more fun to come — every day for the next few weeks, pretty much. Hopefully I’ll get a chance periodically to write about all the goings-on. Ta ta!

P.S. um… re-reading this entry, it occurs to me that sometimes I sound like such a girl. Weird.

So Charlie’s almost a year old. (I swear he was just born last week!) And Willy has decided that it’s high time he start taking drum lessons — from dad, of course. So here he sits, drumsticks in hand, at the practice pad. *bang bang bang* Periodically, the cat or the dog walk by, and Charlie tries to get in a quick *wap*. But he gets a stern look (for the pets’ sake), and back he goes. *bang bang*… happy as can be. =)

I love this kid.

Check out the guns on this kid