Lesson of the day slash exposure therapy

A preamble:
I hate spiders. A lot.
It is very possible I may have full-blown arachniphobia, as my fear is not logical. I can have my face a few inches away, marvelling at an insect... and the second I see that extra pair of legs, my heart starts pounding.
The other problem is that, being in the field I'm in, I know exactly what the treatment for this phobia entails... either imagining contact with spiders or actual contact with spiders.
No dice.
So I keep my can of toxic poison handy, remain generally vigilent, and try to do some minor exposure therapy on my own... that is, dealing with the little ones and daddy long legs myself (sans poison).

Hence comes this post. As I was making dinner this evening, the Duke flipped channels to PBS and a documentary about spiders. I had the weirdest reaction... I became fixated, because the stuff is actually really fascinating, but also hyperaroused in a panicky way. I was nervous AND interested-- my geeky interest in such things was competing with my natural fear reaction.

In the hopes of continuing this progress, I decided to write about the random facts I learned about spiders. And, even post pictures.

And I'm convinced something is crawling up my leg at this very instant.

***

Lesson #1- The raft spider, which invaded the U.K a few years ago, not only can walk on water... it also catched and eats fish!!!

Lesson #2- The desert spider women are known for snacking on their mates post-coitus.
The crafty male, however, prevents his demise by releasing a pheremone that knocks the she-devil out, at which point he promptly has his way with her.
Even worse? The narrator of the show was way too excited about this spider sexual-assault. In fact, I stole the phrase "have his way with her" from him.