I've always liked spiders in my garden and in general, around here in
Chicago, we don't have any of the poisonous types although that's not
quite 100% true. This year there's this spider that seems very
aggressive. It spins its web fast and they're big and they span aisles
were I have to walk! A couple of days ago I step out the door to water
and run right into its massive web which covered me and got in my mouth.
I look down and the damn spider was coming at me like I was its prey.
Needless to say I totally freaked out trying to get the web off me,
frantically brushing away the spider to keep it from crawling on me.

Today/tonight I sat and watched this thing spin another web and decided
to get my camera and take a shot. After taking a few flash shots of it
she kind of stood up on her hind legs taunting me (at least it seemed
like that). I still have to go and water that part of the garden so in
an hour or so I'm going in with a water canon to disperse the situation.

Anyway, here's a pic of the spider.

http://brandylion.com/images/spider.jpg

That's the best picture I could get since it was night and I was using a
flash and it is difficult for me to get close ups under these situations
with my current digital camera. The spider looks tan with some
blotches on it and I have absolutely no idea what kind this is or if it
is poisonous but I'd really like to know. Although I respect spiders
and never kill them in the house because I like that they eat bugs, I'm
kind of an arachnophobe in reality. House spiders usually stay out of
sight and never bother me or make it known that they're around. This
spider is getting in my face and it seems like its treating me like
prey.

BTW: The background of that shot is what I call the catnip corner of my
garden.