Is it a bird? Is it a plane?.... oh wait it's a bat!!!

Encountered a very lost BAT today in the Visual Arts dept. I thought it was a sparrow at first, but upon more careful looking, saw bones in the flappy wings. Eeeeks!! The poor, albeit ugly and gross bat was flying in circles looking for a way out. I was pinning up photos, and it took mucho effort to resist the reflex to scream and run at top speed everytime it neared me. Sharon, the admin lady spotted it, shreeked, ran into her office, pulled a coat over her head and ran to find the equipment TA.

The Visual Arts / undergrad Architecture studio building is a weird clump of dilapidated factories and converted old military research labs. With age, it seems to house more and more interesting critters. I've heard tales of birds flying in and picking off wooden sticks off people's models for their nests. In my sophomore yr, one TA used to bring her cat in, and Moshka, the cat would jump around ppl's models. Pigeons have flown in and pooped on people's models. Sharon brings her tiger-striped dog, Cody, to work. Whenever lunchtime comes around, Cody would stare pitifully at those who bring food, hoping to get a bite from anyone who sympathises.

On another bat-related note, the last time I saw one, I was seven. A bat flew into my home in HK, and I remember running with my brother Chin Yee into our bedroom, locking it, and waiting whilst my mum and the Philippino maid chased the mammal with a broomstick.

cultural contradictions: Chinese - bat = good luck / wealth; Western - bat = evil / bad luck. Hmmm....