Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:

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Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« on: November 20, 2012, 05:30:09 PM »
 akakakakak My mister arrives so soon I can nearly taste him I mean it I mean  bhbhbhbhbh ... It's been some long arse months of toiling and waiting which the toiling helps to get one through. I tire of skyping.  Sometimes his head is made of very few pixels. 

He is an amazing human being.  I fell in love with China and the work here and he said, "I'd follow you anywhere, babe." This after 17 years of marriage.  He'll carry on long distance with his elite squad programmer thing that he does that I understand about as well as cats understand requests to roll over or fetch something.  Often he will work at home which means he might do the dishes one time.  It could happen.  He's had to wash approximately three dishes and a pot over and over all by himself while I've been over here the last 14 months out of 16 without him.  It may have become some sort of habit.

The point is he'll be here, and he'll stay this time.  We'll eat out and walk around and go places and mostly we'll just be in each others company again which is the best free thing in life I've ever found - old friends with benefits who have taken the long road and never regretted it. 

It seems I may nearly be in a minority of one 'round here - married, no children - husband is also Canadian with Irish, Scotch and German roots. I won't be posting any baby pictures unless of course one lands on my doorstep with a note attached.  Seems unlikely ... but I've noticed plenty of you are doing your part to keep the species from extinction  ;) and I've got plenty of kids to keep me busy.  This year only 59 thank gawd - but last year's 497 pop up everywhere to say hellooo to me and I still don't know most of their names.  sigh.  I'd be a terrible spider mother. 

Right.  So ... this was a bit of a ramble, but goddamn it - I want to be a barfly, so I gotta post stuff.

Done.

Any more coffee, barkeep?
"At times, the novice found pre-Deluge English more perplexing than either Intermediate Angelology or Saint Leslie's theological calclulus." - A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr,.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2012, 07:28:34 PM »
I'm glad you'll be reunited soon! Being parted is never good, but the reunion almost makes up for it. ;)

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AMonk

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Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2012, 11:33:20 PM »
Moderation....in most things...

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2012, 03:24:16 AM »
but goddamn it - I want to be a barfly, so I gotta post stuff.

I have the opposite problem:  I don't want to post too often as I'm afraid I'll lose my member (status).   agagagagag Maifeilan.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2012, 04:07:13 AM »
@ Maifeilan  Happy Reunion   bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh
Be kind to dragons for thou are crunchy when roasted and taste good with brie.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2012, 04:20:48 AM »
Happy reunion  bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh bhbhbhbhbh I was under the impression that some spiders eat their mother...I really never considered if spiders were good mothers...are they?
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2012, 06:38:42 AM »
A shout out to eric-the-red who threw in a question about spiders, thusly opening the door wide for what I believe will be my 32nd post, thereby bringing me one step closer to realizing my barfly dreams.  agagagagag

Whilst noodling about a thread title - something catchy - my line about being a bad spider mother leapt out at me and said, "I'll do it...I'll fetch you some repartee!" ... and that line was a reference to the one thing in particular I previously knew about spiders; the lady spiders pop out several hundred eggs at a go. 

Imagine if the little 8-leg-geds all had to have names? How do I know they don't? Perhaps certain particularly nurturing kinds of arachnids would have adapted in such a way as to know their own little'uns each by name so as to call them all over one by each for a sip on some fly carcass. o_O...  Ergo - I'd be a terrible spider mother, and the wayward would starve, being out of earshot and unresponsive to the call of, "Hey, you there!" ... or ... "Eh! Thingummy whatsit! Yer up!"

... but your question got me thinking about the ultimate sacrifice - providing sustenance by being sustenance. 

I queried the Questions Universe (http://questionsuniverse.com/how-do-female-spiders-care-for-their-young-and-what-do-baby-spider-eat), and here's what I learned:

"A European spider, Theridion, provides a far more advanced form of parental care.

The female closely guards her egg sac, which hangs in a protective tent in the upper part of her web.

For several days, the newly-hatched spiderlings feed on a liquid that oozes from the mother’s mouth. They share the mother’s food, eating liquids that ooze from wounds that she makes in the tough outer shell of the prey.

Eventually, the young grow large enough to help their mother make captures by throwing strands of their own silk over the struggling insect.

When the mother ultimately dies, her offspring eat her body, her last contribution to the welfare of her babies."


That's not so awful I guess. The kids don't pig mummy in til she's already dead. Seems reasonable enough. Circle of life, and all that ... It's great how the author was able to use the verb 'ooze' twice - in back to back sentences!

There's a metaphor in there somewhere (not the use of ooze - more the final contribution aspect of it all as well as the bit about helping mummy catch food) ... but I hesitate to ponder it too deeply just now as I have early lessons and have been known to get lost in such rabbit holes for hours and hours.

 agagagagag Cheers to everyone for your replies  agagagagag

Together we can make my dream come true!

A not-so-great-with-names spider mother CAN yet aspire to one day be a barfly, and you all come with name tags, so ... that's good.  bfbfbfbfbf

Anything is possible ... in (Raoul's)China(Saloon).

 bjbjbjbjbj
"At times, the novice found pre-Deluge English more perplexing than either Intermediate Angelology or Saint Leslie's theological calclulus." - A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr,.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2012, 11:33:33 AM »
You have a very special man there Maifeilan! bfbfbfbfbf I had one too. I mention this here because you won't be able to read it yet if I say this in the Barfly section. Today is the day 24 years ago when Jimmy, my husband came home at about 8.00am after a visit to a Specialist. He had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. He wept as he told me and I kept getting ready for work and off I went. He subsequently had surgery, got an infection, had surgery again. As a consequence of this second operation, he got a blood clot which went to his lungs and smothered him on 17th December. We think that it can't happen to us, but it can and does, so really cherish your man; I have so MANY regrets.

Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2012, 10:13:06 PM »
I do, Granny Mae, I do.  I am a very fortunate woman, and the future is always uncertain.  I think sometimes about how careless we were with each other when we were younger as the very young tend to be ... but I have long since come to understand the primary importance of the present moment in which to love and be loved.  I'm so sorry that your love was cut short in such a terrible way. Thank you for sharing that, and be assured I am taking it to heart.
"At times, the novice found pre-Deluge English more perplexing than either Intermediate Angelology or Saint Leslie's theological calclulus." - A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr,.

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CaseyOrourke

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Re: Terrible Spider Mother Checks In:
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2012, 12:49:53 AM »
Mrs Casey and I never planned on being parents, we thought we were to old to raise a baby and always tried to use birth control to avoid it, but as we all know even that isn't completely foolproof. 

When we found out, it was a complete surprise, but we accepted it and now I'm so happy when I see her, I could care less about the age, she is my little darling and that's that.

So never say never, as Bill Cosby once said, "God is a loving God, but he also has a sense of humor."