Scary thing #1: creepy-looking insect.
What is this thing? What planet is it from? Why is it in my house? How many more of them are there? If my cats try to play with it, and it bites them, will they turn into mutant alien insect cats? Do mutant alien insect cats eat cat food, or what? (Actually, based on the pictures at whatsthatbug.com, a site that actually exists, this appears to be a potato bug. But my other questions still stand).
Scary thing #2: ambiguously-labelled water filter.
The scare quotes on the label do not fill me with confidence.
Scary thing #3: confusing condiments.
On the left is a jar containing a mixture of crystallized sugar, chocolate, and coffee beans, with a built-in grinder; on the right is a jar of pepper with a built-in grinder. Alone, neither of these is scary — but I know that one day, when I least expect it, I’ll confuse the two. It’s like having a ticking time bomb in my kitchen.
Unlikely Explanations 
geez, how can you possibly bear to live there? I mean, I can handle the mutant bug and the ticking-time bomb plastic grinders, but the under-confident water filtration system just breaks the camel’s back.
It’s a living nightmare, but I’m managing to cope. Maybe I can get the bug to drink the water.
Hi,
Actually the insect looks really weird and they could be wrong on that web site, it sort of looks alien to me, and about the cat, just watch out after you fall asleep, animals only transform after the owners have gone to bed, this is a fact, watch any horror movie. :shock:
I love your water bottle, that is unreal, safe as long as you don’t use it type of thing. :D
Great post, I’m still laughing. :lol:
The bug is even creepier in real life. Maybe that web site is part of an alien bug propaganda campaign.
You maybe right, you just can’t trust anything these days. LoL.
What a creepy looking bug! Nice of it to cooperate for the photo shoot!
There’s something extra-creepy about its legs and feet. And it makes scratchy noises when it crawls over hard surfaces. And it’s still in my house, somewhere.
I was curious so I googled “insect identification” and got http://www.insectidentification.org/ as the first hit (OK, no shockers so far).
Based on your picture, I entered primary color of brown, secondary of black, 6 legs and found in California.
The first result: http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Dark-Jerusalem-Cricket
I like the name “Earth Baby.”
Weird — your comments wound up in my moderation queue. Maybe because there were links? Anyway, I’ll keep that site in mind for future reference — the search feature looks like it will come in handy. However, it doesn’t answer my question about mutant hybrid alien insect cats.
I’m sure the Spanish name at least would have mentioned it if the cricket created alien cats…”el Diablo Gato” would be mentioned at least in passing. You can trust them that way.
And if pepper vodka is popular, ‘pepper tea’ might be just the thing to pep you up in the morning.
You should combine all three things by putting the alien bug into a grinder and into a blender filled with “filtered” water. You might end up RULING THE WORLD. Or just owning a really gross drink that some asian countries would consider a delicacy. You win either way.
Nice post!
I live in California, so I could probably just sell it as a protein smoothie.
Did you say protein smoothie? Is it all natural? Where can I buy? I need to look up “bug consumption” in my vegan handbook first though.
It is absolutely 100% all-natural (except for whatever’s in the water). And the bugs are locally-sourced, organic, and free range. We’ll be giving out samples at Whole Foods next week.
Oh…I don’t like bugs at all. I would not be able to eat or sleep with something like that around!
What the hell! it’s like it’s made up of three or four other different bugs.
oh, great. Thanks, Joe. Your comment made me go back and look at it again in detail.
It’s probably just a baby one too
Oh my GOD!
(fainting dead away on computer keyboard)
Don’t you get big bugs in Maine? We get nothing scray here, though you should have seen me run aroudn the garden ebing chased by a massive fat bumble bee on Saturday
is there a video of it on youtube? I bet it’d go viral.
We don’t get freaky-deaky mutant bugs made up of four other bugs’ parts, if that’s what you’re asking…
I’ve had a few adventures with bees myself (click “bees” in the tag cloud).
Your camera takes crazy-detailed photos, Laura. Move over Darla; I’m fainting dead away on your keyboard, too. (while I’m passed out, make sure that huge, mutant bug doesn’t carry me away to its hidden lair in your pantry where its 2 billion offspring (multiplying by the hour) will devour me.)
I decided this was a job for the real camera, not the phone. I’m surprised this one came out as well as it did, actually, because I used the macro setting together with the flash, and I’d heard that’s a bad thing to do.
Thanks, that’s just what I needed to hear. Actually, when my cats first brought it to my attention, it was mostly hidden, and all I saw were two of its legs — I thought it might be a baby reptile of some kind.
It’s from the movie Them!
It’s real, as long as it can’t swim the Atlantic…
are your cats creating Frankenstein insects out of bottled water and pepper?
Such clever kitties, building their own cat toys.
Three words: “The Hellstrom Chronicle”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hellstrom_Chronicle
Thanks! Another movie to add to my “do not see this movie under any circumstances” list.
Ahhhh!!! (catching breath)
AHHHHHH!!!!!
I warned you it would be scary.
They say you can catch more potato bugs with sugar, chocolate and coffee beans than with rainbow peppercorns.
Or…
something…
like that.
:)
Either way, they get all hyper.
We call those sand puppies here in Wyoming and I can kill one with a shoe thrown from ten feet away. I know this because after I turned ten my dad stopped killing bugs for me. As an adult I have a no-kill policy for bugs – I will find something to herd a bug into and escort it outside. But, honestly, I don’t know that I could bring myself to use that policy on these suckers. They are harmless, but CREEPY. The only thing that might save them is the copious amount of creepy guts they leave when you squash them.
I have a no-kill policy for spiders, a kill-kill-kill policy for ants, and I take the others on a case-by-case basis. I couldn’t bring myself to kill this guy, and I lost him before I could come back with a container to relocate him in.
I think whatsthatbug is lying to you. I know potatoes. I’ve eaten potatoes. That bug is no potato.
You say potato, I say incredibly creepy bug — let’s call the whole thing off.
Get rid of all your potatoes! Including fries and chips!
I like the way “filtered” is in quotes.
I have some sweet potato fries in the oven right now. That’s probably one of the first warning signs of alien mutant potato bug mind control.
I like the quotes too. They make me feel “confident” that my water is “safe” to drink.
The time has come to burn down the house. I see no alternative.
That bug reminds me of my own near-death run-in with an insect. Google “dobson fly.” And then photoshop what you find onto a photo of your current boss. That’s how I handled that situation.
I came close to burning down the house during an ant invasion a few years ago, but I decided against it, because the cats would have hated moving to a new house.
I’d never heard of a Dobson fly. And then I made the mistake of clicking on this. It’s okay, though — I really don’t need to sleep tonight. Or ever again.
Tick tick tick tick PEPPERY COFFEE BOOM. AHHHHH.
Maybe if you removed all the labels from your spices it would keep you on your toes.
I have a day full of meetings scheduled at work today, and there’s about a 40% chance that during one of them, I’m going to blurt out “tick tick tick tick PEPPERY COFFEE BOOM!”, laugh maniacally, and get fired. If that happens, it’s all your fault.
Seriously, that needs to be on a t-shirt, or something.
That bug is freaking me out. I think it’s a mutant. Part ant and part bee.
Yeah, the striped part is very bee-like. And I sometimes get bees in my house. Hmmm.
And herein lies the problem of buying “organic” foods – no insecticides to kill off their symbiotic companions. I’d stick to Cabbage from now on – their symbiotic companion is the Cabbage Butterfly, and they are white and cute. And cat’s love ’em.
I just googled them, and you’re right my cats would love them. I think that love might be unrequited, though.
Maybe you can be an innovative Top Chef and mix the two grinders on purpose. I bet you could win SOME televised cooking contest by topping mashed potatoes with sugar, chocolate, and coffee. You’ll be so famous!
There’s a TV show called “Worst Cooks in America” — that might be more my speed.
That bug is so cute. I think I will pin it on my “want it” board. Or maybe not. I just got that shivery thing from looking too closely at your photo. Thanks for the fodder for my next nightmare. Ding ding ding! Now that could be a fun board to make! Must google photos of Newt Gingrich.
I’m always getting my “want it” board and my “want it … to die” board confused. Or at least I’m pretty sure I would, if I were on pinterest.
That bug is by far one of the creepiest bugs I have ever seen minus one I encountered when house hunting. See post: http://cestlavie22.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/mystery-bug/. That thing was pretty intense!!
Yeah — yours was possibly diseased, which adds an extra layer of creepiness.
I think the scariest thing there is the possibly chocolate mix/perrer confusion. If I had a grinder of chocolate/shugar/coffee stuff, it would live under my pillow and I may be tempted to make love to it.
That sounds like it could be dangerous.
Haven’t even read the whole post yet, just had to say GAAAAAHHHH! KILL IT! If that thing is a potato bug, I’m never eating potatoes again!
The bug disappeared for a few days, but it showed up on the bathroom floor last night. I gave it a burial at sea.
Are you sure it was the same one? Where’s my blankie…WHERE’S MR. BLANKIE???
La la la la I can’t hear you.
“Microbiologically unsafe?” What the? Is this a regular filter for like, your sink? Or is this for the plutonium bomb you’re building in your kitchen to get rid of the bug in your house? And by the way, if you put up even an antenna of a real bug on this blog again, I’m never coming back. Ya hear me?
It’s for the ice maker in my fridge — in theory, it makes tap water taste better, although the label doesn’t exactly paint a picture of clean, delicious water and ice.
You were right. I find all three of these absolutely terrifying.
Thank you. I don’t mean to brag, but finding things to be afraid of is something I’m really good at.
Hey Laura…I definitely thought your scarey thing number 2 was SCAREY! I mean the label didn’t make any sense and did not encourage the use of that particular product.
I know this is late, but I just now came across this and had to comment. Ive always heard those bugs referred to as Jimminy Crickets. They ARE terrifying and I remember finding them hibernating in dirt tunnels under rocks as a kid in the Sierra foothills.