Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
This NYC transit signage hack for Pride weekend says it all, thanks to a submission from rider @wckethre on Twitter:
Service Information
Everyday
No bigotry, prejudice, or discrimination allowed at this station at any time.
Got any Pride stories to share? Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Our email inbox muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com is always open!
How many San Francisco graffiti artists can you spot in this photo. Reader and keen urban observer Cole Brennan (Belle_Cunningham on Instagram) spotted this wall of graffiti signatures, on which the cleaning crew and artists seemed to have reached an accord:
Most graffiti gets cleaned off of the Muni system pretty regularly. Not so with the back of this map, which puts a neatly partitioned blank wall on the landing of the long stairs up from Bart. The graffiti artists and the cleaning crew seem to have some sort of detente worked out for this wall. I spend way too long trying to read it all, searching for new tags and regulars. That Rveng is classic, and you can’t throw a rock in this town without hitting something Zamar has tagged, but this is the first I’ve seen of Croak. Visiting artist? New tagger? Oldtimer just switching it up?
I’m no graffiti artist, and I won’t pretend to love all of it. Certainly, some tags demonstrate nothing but dull, amateur hubris. The good tags have a confidence that I admire, though.
Here’s an interview with Zamar, who created the mischievous squid seen all around town.
As far as looks go, Clipper is no match for the colorful Fast Passes of yesteryear, but if you have enough patience and geek skills, you can still remedy the situation. A clever life hacker on Hackernoon extracted the brains of the Clipper card and embedded into a bracelet. Blogger Stephen Cognetta got tired of carrying his Clipper card, so he extracted the brains of the Clipper card (the NFC chip) and embedded it into a couple of different styles of bracelets and wearables.
Here’s how:
First, he dissolved his Clipper card in a jar of acetone to extract just the NFC chip.
Then, he checked if the NFC chip is still functional: smart idea, there.
After that, you can embed the chip (and antennae) in almost any thing. The wearable world is your oyster!
Here’s the full post with step-by-step instructions. I’m thinking a Clipper card ring, a la mob boss style, is in order.
Thanks to Amy at Capp Street Crap for the tip.
Sometimes you see a tender moment on Muni and it just really makes your day, like this sweet dad braiding his little girl’s hair. Thanks to @kirinqueen on Instagram for sharing this! And in case you missed it, for Father’s day, we have a new podcast episode featuring comedian Dhaya Lakshminarayanan on her dad’s take on Muni weirdos.
Feature image by @josephbergen on Flickr
Pic by Flickr user Christina B. Castro
They came for our Fast Passes, and we revolted by hoarding our local transit ephemera like Elaine Benes on her last box of sponges. In an attempt at modernizing the fare box experience, they are now coming for our Muni Transfers. SFist has the scoop on the uglier transfers set to replace our cheap-and-cheerful transit kaleidoscope.
I mean, I guess.
We wore Muni transfers. We used them as bookmarks. We turned the transfer into art. So excuse us for tipping our hats to another era gone by.
Just when you think Monday is getting you down, this Muni driver’s random kindness can cheer anyone up. From the Muni Diaries Instagram submission box, @Bloom_reports says:
My Muni driver was handing out 🍒 earlier today. Carried ’em home in my pocket. Love this city.
A few years ago a Muni operator told us that he would hand out candy when he’s driving on Halloween night to sooth the mood on the bus if anyone belligerent gets on. So sweet. Do you have a driver story to share? Someone who made your day? Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Our email inbox muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com is always open!