7 reminders from Muni Diaries Live about why you still love San Francisco
Last Saturday, 200 Muni riders squeezed into a crowded and hot space (for fun!), and they weren’t even cranky about it (we think). We’re talking about Muni Diaries Live, our fav night of the year where we celebrate the human-to-human moments that happen as we move from point A to point B.
We laughed, we cried (really, there were surprise tears), and our storytellers reminded us why we chose to live here after all. For our 20th show, singer/songwriter Rachel Lark (above) cracked everyone up with songs that so many of us can relate to, including “It’s Hard to be a Feminist and Still Love Dick,” which is still in my head two days later. Check out this version of the song she did with Muni Diaries Live alum Kate Willet.
We opened the show with a special story in poetry form from Alexandria Love, standup comedian and writer from Oakland. True to our San Francisco roots, the poem is an ode to our dear Karl the Fog.
We welcomed back Joe Kukura, who knew us way back when—fun fact, he was part of a burlesque cheer squad that performed at one of our early shows in 2010. Joe is a longtime San Francisco journalist whose work you have seen in SF Weekly, Broke-Ass Stuart, SFist (RIP), and more. He arrived with a recounting of his very serious investigative journalism around salacious graffiti with a Muni twist.
Storyteller Meaghan Mitchell is a San Francisco native and writer for Hoodline. When Meaghan got sent home to school one day, the bus driver took her on a surprising tour that involved a burger at Tony’s Cable Car Restaurant.
Nuala Sawyer, the news editor at the SF Weekly, joined Muni Diaries Live to tell her story about one terrible year when good friends helped her pick up the pieces, and a small moment on Muni helped her play it forward.
We’ve been lucky to call the Elbo Room our home for many years. The Elbo Room is closing next January, as the building is on the market, but thankfully it still has a location in Oakland’s Jack London Square. For our last show at this beloved space, co-owner Matt Shapiro joined us on stage to share a behind-the-scenes story about booking the venue. He moved mountains to help a band (called Satan!), further evidence of why we’ve been so lucky to host our shows here.
Of course, no Muni Diaries Live is complete without our Muni Haiku Battle. For this showdown, brave challenger Joe Kukura pulled out all the stops to challenge Alexandria Love for her title.
The race was a dead heat at the second battle. Who will win?
Our champion Alexandria took home the hand-made trophy once again!
We can’t thank you enough for being at the Elbo Room, submitting your stories, and spreading the word about our collective online journal. We’ll be announcing our new venue in April 2019 so stay tuned!
In the meantime, you can hear these stories and new stories on the Muni Diaries Live podcast. And if you have a story to share, you know who to call.
Photo: Right Angle Images