When I first moved to this area (NW Arkansas) 11 years ago, I was kind of flabbergasted by the circles of daddy longlegs on the sweet gum trees in our yard. We also had an abundance of black and yellow orb weaver mommas in our bushes with lots of egg sacs.

Spiders in the yard = awesome. Spiders in the house, not so much.

I don't mind them up in the corners, even, regardless of type, just not down on human levels.

What are they doing? And why is that mean guy poking at them with a straw?

"This behavior is likely a strategy against climatic odds, but also against predators, combining the effect of scent secretions, and reducing the probability of each individual of being eaten." I found this at wikipedia but it doesn't seem to be a well researched phenomena.