eugenia

Eugenia Chien has been eavesdropping on the 47, 49, or 1 lines since the mid-90's. She lives by the adage, "Anything can happen on Muni" (and also, "That's not water.")

Muni says sorry for serious summertime service fail

August 14, 2018 eugenia One comment

Blame it on the dog days of summer, but Muni issued an apology for its system-wide service failure, admitting that “Muni service in the past few months has been performing below our 98.5% service goal.” That’s probably putting it mildly, as earlier this summer, The SF Examiner reported that “On any particular weekday almost a hundred buses — ones meant to run — sit unused due to a lack of operators.”

[We’ll pause here for the jokes and snark.]

Mission Local obtained the missed hours of service of every Muni bus or train line for every Monday going back eight months. Some buses missed almost a third of their scheduled service time on certain days.

Thanks to this diligent local journalism, we at least know it wasn’t just our imagination. Muni’s apology included several solutions that they want to implement, such as converting part time drivers to full time and speeding up new driver training.

It is not yet clear when these measures will impact our commute, but if you do see any improvement, please let us know @munidiaries on Twitter or Facebook.

Photo by @kateconger.

Category: News

Portraits of Muni and BART riders in space

July 19, 2018 eugenia Leave a comment

We’ve all had those “anywhere but here” moments of fantasy on Muni. But artist Kevin Lewis took his commute one giant leap beyond merely a daydream. He recently finished illustrating and writing a sci-fi graphic novel/adult picture book (tentatively titled “BARTians”), featuring 70 drawings of his fellow Muni and BART passengers. Instead of portraying them staring at their phones, Kevin transformed these passengers into doing so much more, literally above and beyond planet San Francisco.

You’d think she was riding BART, but through Kevin’s creative eyes, this young lady is actually on her way to a coronation to continue (or upend) her mother’s legacy.

Category: BART, News

How one woman served sweet, sweet justice on Muni

July 18, 2018 eugenia Leave a comment

Gwen Carmen is a survivor: She’s taught middle school and beaten cancer. So you know she wasn’t going to let a creeper on the bus get off easy. When a man’s wandering hands met storyteller Gwen’s seat, she was shocked. But she didn’t spend too much time in wondering WTF—here’s how she tracked him down and got her own version of bus creeper justice.

Gwen told this story at Muni Diaries Live’s 10th anniversary show and our jaws were on the ground. Listen to her story here:

– iTunes
– Google
– Download

Gwen is an activist, actress, educator, and writer whose work appeared in Essence magazine, Plexus feminist newspaper, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and numerous other small presses during the ’80s and ’90s. She was the editor/publisher of La Morena Women of Color bilingual newspaper.

Thanks to you, we’ve heard amazing stories of women standing up for themselves and each other—like this tale of riders who, one by one, walked over to support a woman being verbally harassed. Another time, riders on this bus collectively said No Way to body shaming.

Keep it up, San Francisco.

Got your own story to share? We are all ears! Pitch your own Muni or San Francisco story to us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com. You can also help us keep the lights on at Muni Diaries HQ by supporting us on Patreon.

Photo by Right Angle Images

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs, San Francisco Diaries Tags: muni diaries live, podcast

Mona Lisa takes a ride on the M

July 18, 2018 eugenia 2 comments

This doppelgänger for the famed Leonardo da Vinci painting was seen riding public transit with a serene smile. Shall we caption this…the Muni Lisa?

(We’ll be here all week, folks.)

OK, OK, judging from the fabric of the seat we know this is another public transit system altogether, but it’s just too good not to share. Not for nothing, we’ve spotted other celebrities on Muni like Justin Bieber and Fabio. It’s a regular day of “Celebrities, They’re Just Like Us” here at Muni Diaries headquarters.

Thanks for the submission, reader Nandita D., via Fernando Meisenhalter on Facebook.

Got other important news for your fellow riders? Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Our email inbox muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com is always open!

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs

Artist Jeremy Fish finally shares the story of the Silly Pink Bunny heist

July 3, 2018 eugenia Leave a comment

Some of you may remember Silly Pink Bunny, a sculpture by local artist Jeremy Fish, which held court in the Lower Haight until 2013. Jeremy joined us on the podcast to tell the story, in his own words, of the bunny’s evolution from a goofy pink (and occasionally peed-on) neighborhood fixture to the revered bronze bunny sculpture it is today.

Jeremy himself says that the story behind the bunny is almost more interesting than the actual piece of art. Seeing as how this story connects art, taggers, grand theft bunny (that’s a thing, right?), crowdfunding, community, and condos, we’re inclined to agree.

Listen and/or download here:

iTunes
Google Play
Download

Spoiler alert: Though the demise of the original Silly Pink Bunny was captured on video for posterity, many (us included) were very curious about how the icon was preserved. Read more

Category: San Francisco Diaries Tags: podcast, san francisco diaries

Muni-themed birthday party activates the transit nerds in all of us

May 24, 2018 eugenia 2 comments

For one Muni-obsessed kid, this is the best birthday party you can ever imagine. Helpful friend Addie posted on Twitter about this amazing birthday party by mom Tania, who should be getting an award for Mom-of-the-Year. Here’s why.

First you’ve got the LRV lines on cupcakes (with rainbow sprinkles!), see above.

Then, there’s the Clipper card temporary tattoos:

(Grownups who are not commitment phobic: check out these three real Muni tattoos).

And mom made tote bags of birthday kid’s name using the Muni worm as inspiration. How cool is that?

We know a couple of other moms with Muni-obsessed kids (paging Heather Knight of #totalMuni2018!). You guys should totally talk.

And for future reference, here’s the best Muni-themed wedding we’ve ever seen, complete with Fast Pass place cards and bus-shaped chocolates. In case you need to throw another Muni-theme party, in, say, 20 years.

Thanks Tania and Addie for bringing this Muni-themed birthday party into our lives.