A friend told me that this was a "smiling spider" and that if it saw your teeth it would steal your smile. Of course she had her hand over her mouth as she told me.
That is an Argiope Aurantia, also known as a Yellow Garden Spider or Writing Spider because the patters in it's web sometimes resemble writing. These tings used to build webs all the time on our back portch, but I haven't seen one in a while.
