Christine Ricks

Chinatown Mysteries

I’m pretty sure this is the most play money I’ve ever seen in one spot. Also, candles + stacks of play money = ???

Posted March 4th, 2010 at 4:37 pm in Tags: priorities, unsolved mysteries • No Comments »

Muni & Me: A Love Story

I’ve been here a few weeks now and have yet to be completely inconvenienced by Muni, the SF public transit system. Considering the online coverage of Muni’s shortcomings, I’m pretty much waiting for some inevitable inconvenient experience, but as of yet I’ve dodged every delay, every passenger scuffle, every cranky staff member. I’m not sure if this is because I’m transit-savvy, I’m flexible in my schedule, or I have low standards. It’s probably some mix of all three.

I was camped out in the San Francisco Public Library with my Macbook Monday afternoon while a massive Muni protest went on across the street at city hall, the accidental love child of 2 separate Muni protests that happened to form at the same time. As a new resident I’ve never really experienced anything but the higher fares and reduced service that spurred these protests. Despite that I’ve been thrilled with my Muni adventures thus far. I’ve taken all lines of the light rail by now; I’ve ridden the 1-California and 14-Mission buses; and of course, since I now live close to all the cable car lines, I’ve taken the cable car frequently. So far everything has been functional even if not always precisely on time.

In Baltimore, I would have to stand in below-freezing temperatures on dimly lit streetcorners waiting for buses that were sometimes over an hour late. After a December shopping trip in Towson I had to call a vehicle-equipped friend for a lift after bus service was rendered useless by a Ravens game, the ultimate gesture of defeat for a carless-by-choice person. I remember thinking then: I can’t wait until I live in SF and take Muni.

Fast forward to now as I finally get my footing as a carless resident of SF. I’m writing this post, and now I’m thinking this: I hope that when I do get inconvenienced by Muni, as I’m sure I will at some point, that I’ll be able to still vividly remember that night I was stranded, migraine-ridden, and freezing in Towson waiting for the bus. I don’t fault anybody for criticizing Muni and wanting to improve it, but I’m just not ready to do that yet. My standards are still recovering from Baltimore transit.

Posted March 2nd, 2010 at 9:41 pm in Tags: transit • No Comments »

A Soft Landing in San Fran

I’m officially a San Francisco resident! I now happily live in a street-facing studio atop a hill on Powell Street. The cable car runs past my window, which is actually pretty soothing – the sound of Baltimore’s light rail was the soundtrack to my life for years and sounds pretty similar.

It is absolutely surreal to actually have a home here. I can’t wait to settle in more. I especially can’t wait to dig into some more creative work here in the Bay Area; as of right now I’m still a freelancer with all out-of-state clients! I would love to find a full-time position here and/or some great local clients. That’s the next step for me and I couldn’t be more excited.

Posted March 1st, 2010 at 9:56 pm in Tags: apartment hunting, San Francisco • No Comments »