Category: Muni Diaries Live Shows

How a life lived (well) on Muni evolved into a life of civic duty

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Muni is San Francisco’s deep end: immediate and immersive exposure to strangers, testing our tolerance for other people’s music, aromas, food, volume, attitude, or public habits. Sometimes all of them at the same time.

This concept is what brought Muni Diaries to life. It’s also what makes Muni interesting and representative of the city it cuts through. We can still celebrate and rally around that idea thanks to folks like Meymey Lee.

Meymey is an organizer, artist, and outdoor educator, who joined us on stage at Muni Diaries Live. They touched on one of my favorite things about Muni: it can not only highlight our shared humanity, but inspire civic duty and a sense of community. We first connected with Meymey through their multimedia exhibit, Muni Raised Me, a showcase of San Francisco born-and-raised artists exploring what Muni means to the folks who grew up on it.

Say hi to your neighbors, San Francisco! It might just be Meymey. Listen to the podcast on all your favorite platforms:

We are proud to have had not just one, but two of the talented artists from Muni Raised Me at our spring show. Stay tuned for the lyrical stylings of Tanea Lunsford Lynx, an artist and educator, in an upcoming podcast episode. In the meantime, prepare to be impressed—Tanea brought their students to the exhibit to perform original poetry about life on the school bus (Muni, obvs), and we captured some of the audio in an earlier podcast ep.

Photo: Emily Huston

Category: Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags: ,

ISO: One special Muni driver for Kurt Schwartzmann

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Profile of a man with an eyepatch and colorful jacket telling a story into a microphone on a stage

In 2019, storyteller Kurt Schwartzmann told what is still one of my favorite Muni Diaries Live stories about being unhoused and reliant on the kindness of strangers, namely Muni drivers, for temporary warm shelter. In the thick of the pandemic, when we needed it most, he repaid the city with love. That is, he collaborated with artist Deirdre Weinberg on one of the famed Hearts of San Francisco. We had him back at Muni Diaries Live in April, as he is still looking for one Muni operator in particular. Maybe you can help him?

Here’s Kurt:

Check out his work at www.YellowLineArt.com and follow him on Instagram @yellow_line_art.

Photo: Emily Huston

Category: Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags:

Meaghan Mitchell on trauma at a 22-Fillmore stop and the long road to forgiveness

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We’re back on the storytelling tip with San Francisco native and San Francisco Standard journalist Meaghan Mitchell—first at Muni Diaries Live in April, and now on the podcast. Meaghan shared a life-changing experience from her youth at a 22-Fillmore stop that touches on summer love, physical trauma, her identity as a Black woman, and more.

We’ve long been proud of the fact that Muni Diaries stories range from sweet and quirky, to weird and funny, to powerful and deeply personal. This is no exception, as we were invited to lean into the vulnerable and, at times, uncomfortable story with Meaghan as she shared with us that night.

tw: violence against women

Listen to her story:

You can also watch the story below:

Meaghan had our tear ducts working a few years ago, when she told a different story at Muni Diaries Live about an especially rough day at school, playing hooky as a result, and the way Muni featured prominently—and personally—into the experience.

Keep up with Meaghan on Twitter @meaghan_m, and send any and all flavors of transit stories or tales of city life to munidiaries.sf@gmail.com or @munidiaries on all the socials.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Category: Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags: ,

Janice Li: BART Board by day, Muni superhero by night

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When BART Board Director Janice Li saw a fight break out on the bus, she took matters into her own hands. But what she saw after making a public information request for the bus footage (which anyone can do, BTW) was something else entirely.

Listen to her story:

You can also watch the story below:

Keep up with Janice on Twitter @JaniceforBART, and check out janiceforbart.com to learn more about her platform, why she cares so much about public transit, and what she’ll continue to do as a director if reelected!

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Category: BART, Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags:

Katie Havercamp, LeBron James (the cat) just can’t quit SF

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Leaving San Francisco for parts north was no small decision for Katie Havercamp, mom of a Muni-riding cat named LeBron James, musician, and bigtime local transit and local history buff. Her experience runs the gamut of grief stages, but, thankfully for her and all of us, never settles into acceptance.

Listen to her story:

Also, nobody loves the Boat Tram more than this lady, as this story makes abundantly clear.

You can also watch the story below:

Thank you to Katie for sharing her story, thank you to LeBron for being a fantastic feline transit ambassador, and thank you San Francisco for that magnetic pull that keeps drawing people back in.

Keep up with Katie and LeBron @goat_of_cats, and join us in the wayback machine to when Katie and her band, Mesquite and Mustard, performed at Muni Diaries Live in 2015.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Category: Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags: , ,

Mr. Miller’s wild Muni ride

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I find it stressful being the navigator in a regular car, clarifying GPS-delayed directions from the tiny machine—is it the next turn or is it the next next turn? I might as well be guiding us through the solar system.

Now imagine trying to do the same for a bus, driving through San Francisco, with strangers who definitely aren’t on a fun road trip with you.

Well, imagine no more because it happened to Hayden Miller, who joined the Muni Diaries Live stage for the first time (and hopefully not the last) in April 2022. He might be in high school, but his expertise was known to a n00b Muni operator, who leaned on that knowhow for driving directions (seriously). All ended up in some…uncharted territory.

Listen to (or watch on the ol’ Muni Diaries YouTube) Hayden’s story:

Catch Hayden’s transit-oriented adventures on Twitter @HaydenM16 or his public comments at an SFMTA Board meeting near you.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Category: Muni Diaries Live, Muni Diaries Live Shows Tags: ,
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