Spiders

I need to find a culture or religion that has the same reverence for spiders as Hindus do for cows. If I were to find said group of people, here's what I'd do: I'd invite 3 people to my home. The first, the current leader of those people. The second, another highly respected member of that community. The third, a representative from the "common folk", if such a class exists in the aforementioned community.
I might learn a few words of their language.
I would not reveal to them my expectations or desires. I would simply invite them into my home. No words would be necessary after they crossed the threshold.
I would immediately become their new leader. They would see the spiders, the webs, the cobwebs, the cobwebs on the cobwebs. They would stand still for just a moment to take it all in and they would look down to find a spider attaching a new web to their ankle. And then they would look behind them and see a cobweb attached to their back indicating that in those few seconds since their arrival a spider has not only come, but he has also seen and conquered.
My visitors would recognize that the owner of this home, me, has such a deep and symbiotic relationship with spiders that I must indeed be the holiest of holy figures in their world.
I'm fairly certain the current leader would peacefully transfer the mantle of leadership. In case he, or she, demonstrated some reluctance, I have complete faith that the other two would hold me in such esteem that, with a simple nod of my head or point of my finger, they would subdue him, or her.
It would be good to be king.
In the meantime, I'll just have to amuse myself by watching the spiders in my home. Poor things have started to build little traffic lights where their webs intersect each other.

Sicko

I wasn't really in the mood to see Sicko. I've seen a lot, I mean a lot, of documentaries this past year and I'm a little documentaried out. Especially when it comes to documentaries which focus on some aspect of how we're killing our planet or each other. My eyes are open already! Stop beating me over the head with bad news please! Yes, you could say I was sick of them.

Which leaves me all the more impressed with Michael Moore's latest offering, Sicko. Yes, there was bad news. Yes, it demonstrated how we're not nice to each other. Yes, big business and the government (sorry for being redundant) are not to be trusted. But he did a really good job of telling his perspective on that story. He mixed in enough humor and communicated enough hopefulness that I left feeling better rather than worse.

I highly recommend it.