My family has finally come to grips with my buggy personality! It's about time! I'm so happy. :)
My buggy x-mas gifts included:
1) a see-thru computer mouse with a real spider inside it, which is very cool...despite the semi-mutilated state of the spider. :( It was tough to make out, but I think it's a male orb weaver. Which makes sense to me because I would assume companies that make these in bulk have an easier time collecting the super common and plentiful bugs. (Photo
here.)
2) a key chain with a real
Gasteracantha cancriformis inside it. It's very pretty and almost looks like the manufacturer painted the spider with some gold paint or something. Next to the spider was something the packaging called a lucky bean. I don't know what that is or why they put it with a spider, but the whole of the key chain was very cool. (Mine is similar to
this one, but better.)
3) this one is funny: I got a small, yellow contraption called a Bug Buster that is basically a 'toy-like' version of a spider collector's pooter, lol. It runs on a D battery and uses the slightest amount of suction to suck bugs up into a clear plastic tube that has a lid. It doesn't kill them, of course, just sucks them into the tube. It was quite a good time with the fam when I immediately found an escaped cricket and sucked it up...and fed it back to my spider. And no more than ten minutes later my sister saw a tiny
Philodromus and a just as tiny
Steatoda grossa in the windowsill right next to each other...which I also was able to suck up and look at, my family watching all the while as though I were an alien, lol! (If anyone is interested, it was something like
this.)
4) a cute pendant necklace with a silver dangling oval that has a spider silhouette cut out of it. (I couldn't find a photo online.)
That concludes my spider oriented gifts, but...
Some people may find this funny, I know my family and I did: My mom knows I like fairies and that I collect things of that sort. So in an attempt to buy me a fairy based puzzle, she thought she found one and bought it and wrapped it for me. But today, upon opening the gift in front of everyone, it turned out that my semi-naive mother had bought me the Michael Dubois illustration called
"Dream Combo"...which is well, a pot puzzle! My mom was quite embarrassed. Lol! We all had a good laugh. I actually really like it though, for it's artistic quality, and I will admit I went to school with lotsa dirty hippies if ya know what I mean. (But do not currently partake in the toke, for those that may judge me for that, lol.) And this particular artist is actually the guy who does a lot of art for the Grateful Dead, along with The Rolling Stones and Santana (among MANY others). So I guess, all in all, this puzzle is quite a gem!
Okay...the living room isn't incredibly loud anymore and people are eating...so I guess I can stop avoiding the noise and get back to mingling. :) (Ah, Christmas.)
Oh, yes!! The point of this post- I am curious to hear what bug-related gifts others got for Christmas. Maybe we'll pick up ideas from each other for next year! :) Post whatcha got! Lemme see, lemme see!