Photo Gallery: Reading on Muni

Heather at Flickr took this great photoset that combines everything I love: public transit, books, and a little voyeuristic view of what people are reading. From her photo set I spotted the Chronicle comic pages, the Examiner, a book called Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, and another called Fresh Air Fiend (by Paul Theroux, the internet said).

You can also find kids reading a big colorful alphabet book, a biology text book (fish!), a book in Russian, and even a few shots of Chinese newspapers. I am really curious about this awesomely illustrated book and this tiny, worn-out leather-bound book.

On my commute, I’m still working through the second half of Haruki Murakami’s The Windup Bird Chronicle and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Anybody got more book recs for commuting on the bus? Check out Heather’s slideshow above, revel in how many people still like to read, and see if you spot any more books you recognize.

MJ Sighting: Take 2

MJ2
Photo by John Heroux

Last week on Muni Diaries, @anthologie posted a photo of a dancer at the 24th Street Station. A guy rockin’ out to PYT, according to her tweets.

We went ahead and added that post to the mix here at the nascent BART Diaries.

And now we have a second sighting of what looks to be the same groovy dude, this time at Glen Park. This photo comes from BART rider John Heroux. Thanks, John!

If you’ve got some awesome BART sightings, write us or send us photos: bartdiaries@gmail.com.

Photo Diary: 71-Haight: 77 Minutes

71-Haight: 77 Minutes
Photo by Flickr user andy54321

There’s something about the number 7 that I’ve always liked. Maybe NextBus likes it, too. The photog notes:

Probably a NextBus error, the 77-minute wait soon shifted to 12-minutes. But the ad, which I think was for something Muni-related*, promises “extra time in your day.” Haight & Fillmore outbound.

* the ad is actually for 511.org

If you’ve got Muni stories, we wanna hear it! If you’ve got Muni photos, add them to the Muni Photos Flickr group.

Say It Three Times and Your Wish Will Come True

bartgraf

BART rider Felipe sent in a picture he took at the Rockridge BART station a few weekends ago:

I took this picture sometime during the July 18-19 weekend. It was at the Rockridge BART Station on a bench near the loading/pickup area. Nothing huge, but it appealed to my sophomoric sense of humor…

Hmm sophomoric humor? Felipe,  you have no idea, but you’ve sent the photo to just the right place!

Summer Ballet Season on Muni

As Light as Air
Photo by Flickr user aussiegall

San Francisco is lucky to have two great ballet companies right here in the city:  The San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet. However, along with these formidable dance institutions comes summer dance camp. You know it’s summer in the city when the teeny tiny little 14 year olds arrive on the #5 Fulton.

Every summer they arrive after the 4th of July and stay for a few weeks. The girls (and occasional boy) all stay at the vacant dorms at USF, but the ballet companies are all near the Civic Center. So every morning they all get on the bus in the middle of rush hour traffic. The #5 doesn’t get a lot of school kids in the morning so the ballerinas are an unwelcome gaggle of chatterboxes for the morning commuters.

Read more

Announcing BART Diaries — Proud Spawn of Muni Diaries!

b.a.r.t. (San Francisco)
Photo by Flickr user thebrandbuilder

You thought you wouldn’t be able to take BART today, but woke up to find some good news — the threatened BART strike was called off. Well, we’ve got even better BART news for you today.

After two years in the womb, the Muni Diaries crew is welcoming our proud little spawn, BART Diaries! Many of you have shared BART tales here, and we figured our speedy little subway deserves its own storytelling space. After all, where else (okay, besides Muni) can you see grown men fight like school girls, erotic magazine on full display, and hear a hot operator’s voice for free?

So if you’re a BART rider, stop by BART Diaries and start sharing your strange and wonderful BART tales. Send us your stories, pictures, videos, and anything else BART-related to bartdiaries@gmail.com. You can also follow BART happenings on Twitter @bartdiaries.

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