Author Archive

The Waffle House Museum is Awesome

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Last weekend I ventured to the Waffle House Museum in Avondale estates in order to do some serious professional research/use that excuse to go somewhere neat one last time.

The museum is only open one Saturday per month (and by appointment), so it was important to jump on the opportunity. Undeniable bonus? It was their 55th anniversary. I even got a pin that said so (not pictured anywhere).

Inside they’ve replicated the original counter and put out some extremely low-quality plastic food. I love it.

Here’s where you can have your picture taken WITH FAKE BANGS to replicate an awesome photo, which you can see to the right. What a great idea! Maybe we’ll put a curly wig on some cardboard here to recognize my time with the organization.

Here’s our tour guide for the kitchen, aka a button with a speaker above. She was pretty good, though her question-answering was a tad lacking.

Next to the original restaurant, they have a museum area with memorabilia though the years. We also had a legit tour guide who kept saying amazing things like, “The guy who the chili is named after is my godfather — we eat at about 12 Waffle Houses every Christmas and he has to order the chili every time to ensure quality control.” What?!

The woman above began at Waffle House as a waitress something like 30 years ago, and is now in charge of like, Florida. Being the 55th anniversary and all, she was there to celebrate. She was super nice, and super excited to be there.

Did you know they made Waffle House watches and pocket knives? You do now!

The menus throughout the years. I could have spent so much more time there, if I had eaten beforehand.  Which I hadn’t.

Hey, there are the two founders behind a fake counter! How neat!

AND OH MY GOODNESS THERE IS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS! He walked by our group as we sat on a stoop, actively loitering while we waited for our comrades to arrive. Needless to say, we were star struck.

If you get a chance, definitely go to the Waffle House Museum. We ate at the active location down the street afterwards, and it all amounted to a super special and informative afternoon. Thanks for rallying the troops, Brooke!

Finally, this is my last blog post as an employee of the Wren’s Nest, which is making me really sad, truth be told. It’s been great fun to write here over the years, and I’m going to miss it a lot. Let’s just hope Lain is funny on his own.

Many thanks to all of you who have read this blog and supported the Wren’s Nest — it’s no small thing, and we appreciate more than can be expressed here.

I need to end this before I get irredeemably sappy.  Bye for now!

Fan Mail for Curtis, Exceptional Storyteller

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First of all: the Decatur Book Festival was an incredible success. Thanks to everyone who helped us out and who attended our events. The KIPP Scribes party for Don’t Forget That Day was particularly fantastic. Hooray for everyone!

The only downside: we were super busy throughout the festival, which meant less picture taking and more “Gah! Did I leave (insert necessary book/decoration/foodstuff) in the car?!” Oh well, doggone.

Thankfully, the children of Winona Park Elementary picked up our slack.

You see, a few days before the festival, our storyteller Curtis went to Winona Park to perform for the first graders. Clearly, they were quite taken — and we’ve got the thank you note showcase to prove it!

Curtis, enthralled audience, purple stage, thanks. Pretty standard and adorable.

It took me a while to decipher “uspe shle,” which was my bad. But y’all — “Remember t.”  I think.

This student really captured the candy corn of Curtis’ eyes.

It’s a shame Curtis caused Mazzy stress, but it looks like she had a good, loving time overall.

I really like how on the front cover here (right) the student captured the enormous bird haunting the proceedings. Curtis’s affinity for spinach (pictured, right) is particularly evident in the size of his forearms (also pictured, left).

Here’s the interior:

So, just to be clear, this student mentioned “love” not one, not two, but THREE enthusiastic times. Well done, Curtis.

Finally, I think it’s great that they’ve started giving the kids LSD to really “experience” the event.

Thanks, Winona Park! Great work, Curtis!

The Bard & The Muckraker — Comin’ Atcha!

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Have you heard about this little event called the Decatur Book Festival? It’s over Labor Day Weekend.

They’re expecting a tidy 80,000 visitors or so, and 300 featured authors. No biggie. I mean, it’s only the largest independent book festival in the country. Whatever.

Anyhow, they do this one cool thing — they release a book each year in conjunction with the festival. As in, they promote one single book, just one that’s released by and for the festival itself. And — so weird, you guys — it’s always been the literary journal created by the high school students in the Wren’s Nest Publishing Co.!

This year’s journal, The Bard & The Muckraker, will premiere at the DBF. It’ll be sold at the Wren’s Nest tent and by the student editors themselves all over the festival. You should purchase a copy. It will feel great.

While I’m being bossy, here’s something else for you to do — celebrate the journal on Sunday, September 5th at their literary salon from 2 – 5 pm at Several Dancers Core. There will be live music, free food, board games, and an unlimited supply of air conditioning.

Plus you get to support these teenagers who have worked so hard over the summer just to get someone like you to notice their work. Someone just like you!

P.S. You can purchase a copy here in case we miss you at the Decatur Book Festival.

Don’t Forget That Day Debuts Saturday, September 4th — Join Us!

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Big news: our first collaboration with the students of KIPP STRIVE Academy (aka the KIPP Scribes!) is officially off to the printers.  It’s really happening!

(The lovely cover, designed by none other than Lauren Lee at Lampe-Farley.)

For three months in the Spring and a little bit in the Summer, 17 generous professional writers donated their time to help improve the writing skills of 17 5th graders at our neighborhood charter school. Each student learned how to craft a story from a family member.

The resulting book of stories, Don’t Forget That Day, will debut to fanfare, trumpets, and fireworks* at the Decatur Book Festival this Labor Day Weekend. Pretty neat, right?

Neater still: we want you to be a part of it.  This entire process has been the result of collaboration and it would be silly to celebrate without everyone who helped us make this happen. That means you, internet friends.

We’ll be hosting a book launch party Saturday, September 4th from 11am – 12pm at Several Dancers Core on the Decatur Square.  You’re invited, as are your friends and anyone y’all want to impress.  There will be treats, excitement, and good vibes.  We can’t wait.

(A glimpse of the interior.  Stunning, no?)

And while this is a big deal to us, it is a HUGE deal to the students.  Please help us make this their special day.  The more folks there to revel in their awesome accomplishment, the better.  (Plus, this will likely be one of the last times they’ll be able to talk to their fans without being swarmed, so it behooves you to take advantage.)

We hope to see you there!  Any questions about the event?  Let us know in the comments. Thanks again to the Kim King Foundation for making this all possible.

Previously: Call for KIPP STRIVE Volunteers, The Program Begins, Halftime Report

*1/3 true.

Mamapedia Is Making The Wren’s Nest Look Cheap

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Mamapedia, a Groupon-esque site for family friendly deals, is featuring the Wren’s Nest this week.

$6 will get you admission for two humans, any combination.  This is what we in the biz call “a steal.”

And remember! You’re not just buying your pass to Atlanta history. You’re also visiting a “must-see in Atlanta” as designated by Glamour Magazine’s Sex and Relationships blog. Because of course.

Thanks, Mamapedia!  And thanks for mentioning us to Glamour, Asian Cajuns!

The Wren’s Nest — National Historic Landmark, Fierce Competitor

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The calendar next to my desk is the National Historic Landmarks Photo Contest calendar.  Surprise to no one, I love it.

It doesn’t really mess around with things like “non-American” holidays or fancy words like “solstice” (June 21st: “Summer Begins”).  What it does make room for, however, is the following, marked on August 21st: “National Historic Landmarks Program Established on this Day in 1935.”  I like your priorities, my calendar.

(The Wren’s Nest, positively glowing about its NHL status.)

The Wren’s Nest is, of course, a National Historic Landmark.  In case you’re wondering what that means, exactly, it’s this: that we’re awesome, and way more awesome than most other old things.

The numbers do the talking for us:

• There are over 1,000,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places.  Not too choosy, but nice, still.
• 80,000 of those bad boys are listed individually.  (The rest are accounted for by things like historic districts and the contributing properties therein.  Nice try, guys.)
• Out of the 80,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, only 2,430 are National Historic Landmarks like the Wren’s Nest.  Yikes.
• This is definitive proof that we’re super special.

Obviously, inclusion in this calendar of similarly special old places would be terrific.  Wanna help?  Take a moment to look at the Wren’s Nest’s interior and exterior photos and vote on which one you think we should submit to the contest.  If we win, we’ll totally share the proceeds ($0) with you!

Happy scrutinizing!

Related: This list of National Historic Landmarks by state is neat.  (There are 48 NHLs in Georgia, in case you were interested.)  So is National Historic Landmark Flickr account.  And!  This weekend (August 14th and 15th) is one of the monthly fee-free entrance weekends at more than 100 national parks.  America, good work.

Storytelling with Curtis at the National Black Arts Festival

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Things have been a little bonkers with us lately, and our blog hasn’t been getting the attention it deserves.  Sorry, baby — I still love you.

Part of the reason?  It’s festival season, which means we do things like go to the National Black Arts Festival for three days.  Go ahead, see for yourself (and enjoy some storytelling while you’re at it) –

That’s Curtis, storyteller extraordinaire, in our tent on the second day of the NBAF.  He was filmed by the wonderful Spenser Simrill, Jr., who also recorded Akbar here a few months ago.  Remember?

While being awesome all over town takes time, you can still get your fix if you follow us on Twitter, where the Wren’s Nest is consistently amusing.  In the meantime, don’t worry — more excuses posts coming soon!

And The Bard & The Muckracker Cover Is…

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After a hard-fought battle wrought with hair pulling (not true), tears (not true), and hours of deliberation (totally, totally true), our student editors chose a cover for their 2010 literary magazine, The Bard & The Muckraker.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner:

This cover was created by Emily Hauck of Lampe-Farley Communications.  (The other cover, for the many of you who fell deeply, deeply in love with it, was created by the talented Alicia Johnson.)

Thanks so much to both of our designers — this was an incredibly difficult decision for our students, mainly because both designs are just so darn great.  (A wonderful problem to have.)

Additionally, thanks to all of you who told us what you thought — the students appreciated your opinions, especially when the debate was stalled in a dead heat (see: 3 hours, seriously).  Look at you, making a difference.

Thanks, everyone!

Wren’s Nest Publishing Company 2010: Potential Covers for The Bard & The Muckraker

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If a Wren’s Nest Publishing Co. keeps chugging along but no one blogs about it, does it still happen?

The answer is: yes, and thank goodness for that.  This week the students get to choose a cover for their literary journal – exciting!  The journal debuts at the Decatur Book Festival to thousands of bookish types, so this is no small decision, no sir.

Here are the two submissions, created by local, incredibly talented designers (whose names we’ll splash all over the place once y’all have let us know what you think).  The students gave the designers a few cues, and both did absolutely amazing jobs of incorporating their requests.

Behold, #1 (remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger):

#2 requires a touch of explanation.  The designer created it so that it could be read from both directions (with the interior pages printed right side up, and the other half upside down).  Here is it from both angles:

Flipped!

So!  What do y’all think?  Which do you like better?  Tell us everything!

I’m not saying your opinions will actually affect anything, but it’s sure nice to hear ‘em.

The Wren’s Nest Publishing Co. Visits Paste Magazine — This Time, in 2010!

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The good folks at Paste Magazine were kind enough to host the Wren’s Nest Publishing Co. students on a tour of their offices once again.  You think they would learn.

As is his habit, Editor-in-Chief Josh Jackson graciously showed us around, which was great.   The students, as is their habit, kept a healthy distance.  A good call, since Josh is absolutely the meanest person I know.*

*Untrue.

We stopped in the offices of MetaLeap Design, who do all the graphic design for Paste, but also for other people, too.  They’re nice like that.

Here are the students with their futures (fingers crossed!) ahead of them: the interns!  Doesn’t it look glamorous?!

Our editors had a lot of questions for Paste’s Editors, all of which they graciously answered.  This is probably when Associate Editor Rachael said that interviewing people made her want to die.

A different view, this time including Editors Austin and Michael.

Paste, go figure, receives a lot of CDs.  Many of them end up here, and some are even on shelves!

They even listen to them sometimes!

Paste Multimedia Producer Kevin told the students about the time he met some dudes who were cleaning up trash at a music festival.  They handed him their demo CD.   Kevin had previously vowed to listen to every CD he was handed by a human, and so he listened.

The result?  The world now knows about The Low Anthem!  (P.S.  Every time Kevin tells that story, he’s handed many CDs.  And he still listens to every one.  What a mensch!)

Everyone who performs at Paste signs this wall.  It’s neat.

Here’s Rachael enjoying a token of our appreciation, courtesy of The Cookie Studio.  Yes, they are that big, and yes, they are that good.

Thanks again to the staff of Paste for sacrificing their time for the sake of our students’ bragging rights.  See y’all next summer!