Looks like Araneus diadematus to me. They have a white cross on their abdomen like the one on your photo. Cool spiders (they’re all cool :)

Yes, the trap-doors are more closely related to tarantulas than the other spiders you mentioned, so they are much bulkier. That one looks to be male to me, so I think you’ve found one out looking for a lady.

Not a recluse. Looks like a Ummidia (trap door spider). Very cool spiders.

Sorry didn’t see this earlier. I used Imgur instead of loading directly to lemmy.

I love this! Not sure what you mean by “ends”, though. Are you referring to the whimsical fringe in the armpit of my sweater? That is a design element!

I think we might be kindred spirits. The stuff I own because suddenly Hobby X was the most critical thing in my life… There is a recorder (the instrument) sitting on my desk right now because I decided a couple of months ago at 2AM that it was high-time I learned to read music. Thank goodness I didn’t buy a violin.

I took a couple photos mid-molt today, but they are so stinking blurry. It’s a mix of low-skill, low-light, a phone camera, and trying to photograph through reflective enclosures, I think. I have thought about looking into better equipment before, but having read your story I don’t think that’s a good idea!

I have (so far) been mercifully spared by the photography bug, so I’m not sure where it falls in terms of cost, but keeping inverts can actually be done really cheaply while still providing very good care. Now that I’ve said that…run for your life, lol.

I can’t really speak to insects, but I do keep tarantulas and have really had to set firm bounds on myself. Not just money-wise (because oh, the beautiful terrariums you can build), but also in terms of what I can reasonably care for, what I reasonably have space for, etc. That said, this is probably the most fun I’ve ever had with a hobby. I have two prepping to molt as I type this and I feel like it’s Christmas morning.

This is a little off-topic, but if you are okay with spiders, you might enjoy this video from Dave’s Little Beasties that shows the development of a tarantula (Theraphosa stirmi) from an egg. This is an very large species with very large eggs, so you can really get a good look. I believe Dave does touch on bad eggs briefly here as well.

Video link

Battlestar Galactica is the one I just can’t do. I didn’t watch it when it aired, but I borrowed the box set from someone around the time it wrapped up. I think I watched 3 very tense episodes, looked at how many remained, and bailed. If I ever try again I’ll pretend I’m watching them being broadcast and stick to one episode a week. I’m probably a wuss, but that show left me exhausted.

I quite like Dana K. White’s system for this. When putting something away she asks “if I were looking for this item where would I look for it first?” And wherever that place is is where the item goes. Now I keep all my Sharpie markers in the silverware drawer and I can always find one.

Dana White doesn’t write specifically for the adhd crowd, but I swear she’s the first organizer that has ever made sense to me. There’s more to her system than this, obviously, but not much, and it almost never involves buying more bins.

Thank you, this is the closest I’ve seen to something comprehensive.

Sweet, I guess I’m going to have to get a PC at some point. I actually played Riven for iPadOS recently and it was still fun, but the point and click is pretty tedious.

I’m not sure a remake willl ever match the magic of when I originally played in 1998, though. My laptop was so junky I played most of the game under a blanket because the screen was so dark, haha.

Ad Riven. I read all the novels, too!

It’s been a while, but I wanted to come back and thank you for this rec, because I really like the blue lizard sunscreen. I got the stick for my face and tube stuff for the rest of my body and I’m really pleased with them. These actually rub in very well and I’m not leaving white streaks on everything I touch.

The Count of Monte Cristo is what immediately came to my mind also. He is absolutely thorough in his revenge.

Priorities!

Very excited to have the compact comments and swipe down on the image previews!

I love his work!

Oh that’s funny, I forgot beehaw didn’t have downvotes. I actually can downvote and see the downvotes, but maybe those are just going off into the ether.

Oh, and I also suspect the user(s?) doing this is using other accounts to upvote the posts.

The ones I’ve been reporting have all been lemm.ee users and it is a violation of the lemm.ee rules to use your account to advertise on lemm.ee or any other instance. I don’t know how other instances are handling it.

I actually don’t know who gets the reports I’ve been submitting, either, so I’m not sure if it’s doing anything.

I have been to a couple community days in the park and both times someone had already added lures to many of the pokestops - probably because there is medal for players catching pokemon from your lure.

I would just go somewhere that has a lot of gyms/stops clustered closely together if you have something like that. At the park I go to there are spots where you can barely see the ground because there are so many pokemon. Even stops without lures have a lot, so finding pokemon on community day has never been an issue and I can finish the research pretty quickly.

Tips? Sunscreen and water, even if it’s not hot where you are.

I’ve been reporting them. It seems that a lot of the posts contain affiliate links, so it’s someone trying to make money from that - not because they wrote the books that are getting posted.

Some have been banned, but they keep coming back. Some may be bots, but not all - I saw at least one come back with a hateful response when called out.

Haha, I guess I must have missed it in my pre-guest “hide everything that might horrify someone” routine.

I can see how this would be one of those projects that’s never quite finished. The fox, maybe Bill the pony…

As someone who really loves spiders, I am pretty tickled to see Shelob as a jumping spider, just sitting in her lair while all the action happens around her.

I pulled out my atlas again last night since it’s been a while and I’ve got to say, I think your video version was a lot more helpful to me in making connections between the various parties. The books and movies are always focused on one party at a time, so I have always tended to think of them that way. I have a very distinct memory of being 11 or 12, getting to the end of the The Two Towers where Shelob has Frodo, jumping right into The Return of the King, and nearly launching the book across the room when I found the story had gone back to Pippin and Gandalf.

Hyperion is my favorite of the two, but I don’t think you could go wrong with either. If you are interested in audiobooks there is one for Dune that is very good.

This is amazing! I believe I have the atlas you’re referring to (I keep meaning to put together my own “walk to Mordor” goal). I love seeing the movements like this.

Thanks for creating the community! I love seeing different artist’s depictions of Middle Earth. I definitely have some other favorites I can share.

She has a whole Tolkien series that is really beautiful. I have this one in my living room. People don’t realize what it is until they look closely and see the sword and the blood, haha.

As someone who once put some tortillas on the griddle, turned to the fridge to get cheese, and…walked right out of the room and back to my desk, I 100% agree. I sometimes feel dumb that I am literally setting 1 or 2 minute timers, but it’s better than burning stuff. I don’t always need them, but they are really helpful during times of stress when I’m especially preoccupied with other things.

They are pretty good hiders :) I believe Europe has a couple of tarantula species as well. I want to say they have been found in Greece, but don’t quote me on that. I have read a little bit about how climate change may be pushing the range of spiders further north as well, which is both interesting and incredibly depressing.

I did a jigsaw puzzle of this painting a few years back. It was incredibly interesting to examine all those little brushstrokes one tiny square at a time and see how it all came together.

We can add !buyadderall@lemm.ee to that list. I tried to report an individual post, but I’m not sure if it went through. I just got a spinning wheel when I hit submit.

Awesome! I’m pretty impressed he fought his way up through the drain. I wonder how he got past the p-trap.

Thank you for posting it, though. We don’t have these where I am and I find them so charming, like the buck-toothed cousin of the Ummidia I occasionally come across following a heavy rain.

Maybe a relative of the Russian Leather Beetle (Osmoderma eremita), like Osmoderma eremicola? It’s likely going to be hard to narrow down without clear photos, though (disclaimer: I am not a beetle expert).

Looks like it may be a Cockchafer beetle.

I’m glad you’ve had better luck with Katchy than I did. I bought it because of a personal recommendation, but it didn’t really work long enough for me to determine if it was better than sticky traps.

Plus I’m the weirdo with a soft spot for moths, so I just generally leave them to fight it out with the spiders :). I cannot handle the fungus gnats flying up my nose, though. It doesn’t seem to matter if there is one fungus gnat or fifty - they all think there’s a party in my nostrils.

Me, too. I have always been pretty neutral about Tom Hanks, but now I am wishing he read more audiobooks.

You mentioned pest control in the soil - have you tried mosquito bits? I ended up mixing some in with the soil for a Monstera and I also put a layer over the top and it does seem to make a difference. I do have to combine it with those unsightly yellow sticky traps, though. Between plants and the inverts I keep, my house is full of containers of damp dirt.

In case anyone is thinking about getting a katchy, you can read the reviews, but I give it a thumbs-down. I used it only a few times before fall and it worked okay, but when I pulled it out again in the spring I just get orange error lights and no response when I reached out to them.