Thpeaking of Thpiderth....

So here's my Favorite Younger Brother-in-Law, spreading the word that Spiders are Cool to my Summer Reading group here at the library yesterday. We talked about spiders and hopefully got some of the little ones to think before they squish. We had a pretty good crowd--over ten kids.

FYBiL (wait--that looks too suspiciously like "feeble") is holding Kiki, a Chilean Rose tarantula. He has had Kiki for many years, now. Female tarantulas can live for twenty or thirty years if you take good care of them.

He also brought in Theo, an elderly (for a boy) fellow with an eight-inch leg span, but Theo isn't particularly social and did not come out of his cage. I forget what Theo is. A Chocolate something. Theo was also acting a little weird which has us thinking he might not be much longer for this world. But the kids still enjoyed the close encounter. They were a big hit.

Here is a closeup of Kiki:

FYBiL also suggested later on he could do a little animation class, in which the kids can make flip books. Since of course he also happens to be Mister Professional Animator. I think that would be a lot of fun!

We then had a pleasant lunch across the street at the general store, where Mojo complained that all the CGI animated features are starting to look the same. In fact there are commercials now for something called "The Ant Bully" and the character designs look like a complete ripoff off the "Antz" movie from a few years back. And I haven't even bothered to see CARS yet. I will probably wait for DVD for that one. I think that'll be the first Pixar film I haven't seen in the theatres.

But I am complaining when really this was supposed to be a positive fun entry! Bad Mojo! Lesson learned: Kids and tarantulas DO mix, after all! Who'da thunk it?

Mojo