Saturday, November 22, 2008
Poe Money, Poe Problems — The Edgar Allen Poe House in Baltimore
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Birds of a feather, Failed Attempts at Looking Reputable, House Museums, Nonprofit Management, Really?, This is awkward // 1:14 pm
Many moons ago (mid-September to be exact), Lain and I traveled to Baltimore to be overzealous about The Wire, visit the Edgar Allen Poe House, and see friends, in that order.
Due to, ahem, technical difficulties, we didn’t have the pictures from our visit until now.
So first, let’s talk about The Wire, shall we? Because everyone loves it, I won’t take up space here telling you that it was quite possibly the best show on television and that your career as a television viewer is incomplete without it. That would be silly.
I will tell you this–The Wire focuses on the drug trade in Baltimore, and the set is Baltimore itself. The projects, to be exact.
Which is exactly where the Poe House is!
This leads to the Poe House’s voicemail being both helpful and unintentionally hilarious. Like, amazing. Here, I’ll sum it up for you:
Do not, by absolutely any means, walk to the Poe House! No, seriously, don’t. We know you think you can, but you cannot. Stop it.
It’s important to note the message is about 4 (wonderful) minutes long.
The Poe House is the very small home where Edgar Allen Poe lived the last years of his life, when he was ill, broke, and generally considered a wack-job. Very few original artifacts remain in the home.
The Director of the Poe House has a fierce loyalty to “Eddie,” but a possibly broken spirit as a result. The phone message isn’t the only evidence. Here, look at the Caution sign.
We too wish we could tell some people to control their durn kids, but to print and frame it? Incredible.
This sheet is your guide as you tour the house. I suspect it exists because the Director would have punched the next person who asked a dumb question.
There’s plenty of evidence of how he got to be this way, conveniently put into a video montage for visitors!
I’ve truly never seen someone taunted on television so many times, over so many years. If ever there was a good sport, it’s this Director.
This relief of Edgar Allen Poe is a good visual for the museum, I think.
Like the Wren’s Nest, the Poe House has seen good times and some really not so good times. This bad boy was originally put outside, after a couple other reliefs were stolen. Then it was damaged by environmental factors like acid rain.
Here are some framed copies of Gustave Doré’s famous illustrations of Poe’s The Raven. The Wren’s Nest also has a copy, since Joel Chandler Harris himself owned the very same version!
My favorite part of the house was the stairway to the third floor. It is so narrow, steep, and angled that it was truly difficult to turn around.
Here’s what it looks like upstairs.
Though it’s hard to tell in this picture, the ceiling is about 4 feet tall and the room is about 7 feet wide. If I could have stooped in there for a visual, I would have, but you weren’t allowed in the room.
So! There ends our tour of the Poe House, which was really a discussion of its war-weary Director and where The Wire was possibly filmed. Journalism at its finest.
Next time you’re in Baltimore, visit the Poe House. But listen to the voicemail first. It’s worth it.
Comments: 7Hip Hop Blog Features Awkward Wren’s Nest Staff
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Fame and Fortune, This is awkward // 7:31 am
Yesterday, the staff of the Wren’s Nest was were was nobodies. But today, we’re nobodies with slightly more internet exposure!
You see, someone chose US to be their nameless vision of awkwardness! Have you ever been so elated?! First, the famous awkward picture:
Next, the use of said picture ON A BLOG ABOUT HIP HOP. Go on. Check it out. The hip hop community loves us. It’s about time we gave back.
I hope you realize I am not kidding about my excitement. Seriously, I could not have asked for a better home for my image. This is rich.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to being thrilled and twirling in circles. Yippee! Famous! Kinda!
Comments: 3The Wren’s Nest Possibly Under New Old Ownership
Posted by: lain // Category: Awkward Introductions, Cruel Games, Good Questions, Ridiculous Demands, Storytelling, This is awkward, What Would JCH Do? // 10:09 am
SCENE: THE WREN’S NEST, LATE AFTERNOON
(Gallant executive director LAIN SHAKESPEARE prepares to leave the Wren’s Nest when the doorbell rings. CRAZY WOMAN IN PINK, who had been seen mysteriously rolling a suitcase around in the back yard, appears at the door. LAIN does not know she is crazy.)
LAIN: Hi! Are you here for a tour?
WOMAN: Yes! May I come in?
LAIN: Actually, we closed at 2:30. And normally I’d let you come in but I’m running late.
WOMAN: Aha! Will you be open tomorrow? And how much does a tour cost?
LAIN: Yes, and it’s $8 for adults.
WOMAN: Would you charge me if I said this was my house?
(LAIN cannot respond to this question and stares vacantly for nine beats.)
LAIN: …yes, I think I would.
WOMAN: But this is my house. I built it. So you’re going to charge me to see it!?!
LAIN: (voice cracking) …oh?
WOMAN: Yes, I built this house with my husband and my brother.
LAIN: (pointing to the house) Are we… talking about… the Wren’s Nest?
WOMAN: Yes! In fact, I have things planted all around the house.
LAIN: Things? What kind of things?
WOMAN: (ignoring this) When my husband and I divorced, we decided to keep this house as neutral ground. So we can both come here.
(LAIN squints real hard, as if it will make this woman make sense.)
WOMAN: At least, that’s the way it is until I can move all my stuff out.
LAIN: What kind of stuff do you have in here?
WOMAN: (smiling wide) My Ouija board. And Jumanji. Have you ever heard of Jumanji? Say, is this house haunted?
LAIN: Ma’am? I don’t think so. Do you have somewhere you can stay?
WOMAN: This is my house.
LAIN: Yes, but I mean for toni–
WOMAN: (emphatically, but with a smile) My house.
(LAIN and WOMAN exchange awkward goodbye, ending the most confusing conversation that has occurred on the premises in recent memory.)
–
EDIT, 1:59 PM: (Editor’s note–In my rush to get everything down on paper, I totally forgot the wackiest part! Please forgive, and you can insert these lines anywhere above where it makes sense.)
LAIN: So, um, what’s your name? How long have you been in the neighborhood?
WOMAN: I am the mother of time.
Comments: 14West End Fire Station #7 Set to Close Today
Posted by: lain // Category: Cruel Games, Ridiculous Demands, This is awkward, Whoops! // 8:58 am
As a result of a many million dollar budget shortfall and bickering between the mayor and city council, West End’s fire station #7 is set to close today …or later this week. That part isn’t terribly clear.
Folks around here are not happy.
(More pictures, along with the AJC article, here.)
You’d figure that with the city of Atlanta adding 20,000 citizens in the past year things like–oh I don’t know–fire stations would find their way in the budget. Ours is the longest-running fire station in the city, established in 1910. For continuity’s sake you figure they could’ve picked another station out of the hat.
#7 is easily the closest fire station to the Wren’s Nest. They served us just last month when they provided us a truck for Wren’s Nest Fest.
I think they actually hired that kid. Too bad he’s going to get laid off now.
There’s a protest planned for today at 11:30 am. I’d expect television cameras and reporters there, so if you ever wanted to be on tv, now’s your chance. You might could even help save our fire station, too.
If I’m not there it’s because I have a meeting until 12 and then another at 1. Hopefully I’ll be able to wriggle out of ‘em.
Comments: 5Wren’s Nest Postcards Felled By The United States Postal Service
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Events, Really?, This is awkward // 12:08 pm
On July 19th, the Wren’s Nest will be hosting a “Family Reunion”, aka Centennial Celebration of 100 years of honoring Joel Chandler Harris.
(This is the least creepy way possible of saying we’re having a party for the anniversary of Harris’ death.)
Because this party is a Big Deal, we thought it would be best that more than 5 people attend. So we sent out invitations. Lots of ‘em. The image you see above is on the front of the invitation postcard; details and space for the address are on the back.
And then we started getting them back. Lots of ‘em.
They came back in bundles, all with the same label, telling us that no such address existed. Thing is, the addresses were right. We checked. And then checked again. Even mine came back. And you know what? I’m proud to say that I can recognize my own address. I even have it memorized.
So today, sleuth that she is, Mama Shakes (also known as Annette, Lain’s mom) went to the post office to demand an explanation… in the most polite terms possible, I’m sure.
Turns out the culprit is the location of our return address. On some (but not all) of the invitations, the computer read this address as the “send to” address, sending them back to us in a jumble of confusion.
So I guess the point is, haven’t received an invitation yet? It’s in the mail.
And! I would be remiss not to point out that anyone who considers themselves part of the Wren’s Nest “family” is invited to this event. Regular blog readers, that means you! (Just be sure to rsvp to amelia@wrensnestonline.com!)
Comments: 14Remember the Art Block? You Might Be the Only One
Posted by: lain // Category: Good Questions, Nonprofit Management, This is awkward // 7:02 am
Some of you might recall The Art Block, the new summer camp we posted about a few weeks back.
Welp, at press time nobody has signed up. Not a single person. That’s less than two people! Infinitely less, some might say.
The problem is, this thing starts on June 2nd.
The idea for the camp (not mine, but I certainly think it’s a good one), is that middle school age students will write, act in, and produce a play in two weeks. We’ve got three different organizations (The Wren’s Nest, Fly-By Theatre, Hammonds House) who are each providing a professional artist to teach the kids in a different field. (Confused? Click here.)
Fine, right? Fine. Maybe a little hard to explain, but fine.
With 0 kids signed up, we’re left scratching our heads, especially since Fly-By Theatre has hosted successful camps like this in the past.
Understandably, our first professional writer bailed. At the time, dedicated funding had fallen through (this has since changed), nobody had signed up, and in good conscience we simply couldn’t continue to allow him to pass up other jobs.
In a last ditch effort to get some kids for this camp, my colleagues and I have decided to, more or less, offer scholarships for worthy applicants (read: those applicants with a pulse) and offer up one last hurrah of awareness.
So, all that said, here are a few questions for you to ponder–
- Do you know any 11 - 14 year olds with free schedules who live in Atlanta and would want to do something like this?
- What is the fatal flaw about this idea?
- When you have to coerce kids into attending a camp, is that (a) good parenting / camp administration; (b) the time to call it quits; or (c) an opportunity to have a “guinea pig” round to practice for next year?
- Is it the name? It might be the name.
- Should money be involved in this at all? If it were a competitive admission process instead, do you think we’d still have 0 kids signed up?
- Do you think this an issue of not filling a need in the market, not reaching our target market, or our target market spending all their money on gas?
Now go, internet consultants! Do my bidding!
Comments: 7The Black Addams Family
Posted by: lain // Category: Good Questions, Historical Quagmires, Storytelling, Tar Baby, This is awkward // 1:43 pm
A few months ago, the folks at Sketchworks Comedy asked us if they could use the Wren’s Nest to film a sketch that would play during their live show. We’re pretty cool, so of course we said yes.
The sketch was the Black Addams Family, and it’s just now online–
Given that I like what’s funny and that Joel Chandler Harris is an author whose work has sometimes been called stereotypical and racist, I found the premise of the Black Addams Family at the Wren’s Nest remarkably intriguing.
It’s also really well done. Compare it to the original version, and I think you’ll be impressed–
What made the Black Addams Family even more interesting was a bit of conversation I overheard between some of the cast members who were taking a break. They were talking about the Wren’s Nest–
“Isn’t this place racist or something?”
“I don’t know. I think they’ve got a bunch of tar babies running around.”
The Black Addams Family is a parody that relies on two things: (1) the creepy house that happens to be the home of Joel Chandler Harris and (2) racial stereotypes being funny.
Ironically, it was exactly this type of humor, often used in the 19th century by white writers, that Joel Chandler Harris sought to avoid.
Many writers who wrote stories involving blacks relied on stereotypes through overwrought dialect or blackface-like presentations. (The enormous difference between that and the Black Addams Family is that this time black folks are, of course, in on the jokes.)
Joel Chandler Harris, meanwhile, distanced himself from his peers by presenting a black protagonist, Uncle Remus, in a way that was respectful and meticulously faithful to African American folklore.
For example, when Uncle Remus tells the little boy the story of the great deluge and the little boy mentions Noah, Remus explains that Noah isn’t in the story. It’s significant that Remus doesn’t conform to the Noah’s Ark story accepted by white America–he gives legitimacy to his own, African American version of the story.
This kind of cultural equality was, suffice to say, somewhat rare in the southern United States during the 19th century.
One hundred years later, Harris is often confused with his peers who mostly relied on stereotypes for yuks, and his (along with Uncle Remus’) reputation has suffered.
It’s kinda complicated, but I think that there are three morals here–
- Go see Sketchworks in Decatur.
- Historically, Joel Chandler Harris hasn’t had great marketing.
- When you’re holding a bucket of KFC, a fake illegitimate child, and the afro pick for Cousin It’s hair, it may be the absolute best time to discuss racism. Or maybe it’s the worst. There’s not much in between.
I’m just sayin’.
Comments: 0If You Look Up Awkward In the Dictionary
Posted by: lain // Category: This is awkward // 11:24 am
You’ll find the staff of the Wren’s Nest.
No seriously.
Don’t let our smooth demeanor on television fool you. And just because we’ve had a theme song written spontaneously for our museum, please don’t assume we’re cool.
Google Images knows better. Google Images knows the staff of the Wren’s Nest is, well, maybe a little awkward.
Just how awkward? #20 or #21 on THE ENTIRE INTERNET. In case you weren’t aware, there are literally billions and billions of pages on the internet.
Maybe we’re not David Hasselhoff awkward, but we’d like to think we’re getting there. I wonder if we’re big in Germany and don’t even know it!
Feel free to search for “awkward” yourself. Though be careful–if you turn SafeSearch on full-blast, we won’t be there! Apparently Google Images also knows that we’re a little risque.
The post that started it all: Decency at the Nest.
Comments: 4The Staff of the Wren’s Nest Nearly Fixes a Window
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Failed Attempts at Looking Reputable, Really?, Shirking Responsibility, This is awkward // 2:44 pm
There are two windows to a mysterious, unaccessible room up very high at the Nest that have recently lost their glass. When it rains, water comes in these windows. Which then comes down to lower floors. And proceeds to ruin things.
We don’t care for this scenario.
(The offending window, taken from as close to it as we could get. Can you tell why we’re eager for a new coat of paint on the place?)
Unfortunately, the only people we had on hand to resolve this issue were Lain and Eduardo, who began their adventure with the following dialog:
Eduardo: “Are we ready to do some windows?”
Lain: “Yeah! But first we need to figure out how to open this!” (holds up a tub of window glaze)
Moments later, Eduardo returns, triumphant: “I opened it with a spoon.”
Excitement was in the air! We were going to fix something! With our own 5 hands (I had one allotted to the camera)! Without any idea what we were really doing!
While we were sure that someone was going to get hurt, that did not deter our enthusiasm. See?
Turns out the ladder was in the wrong place. Like I said, we’re experts. I helped here by… documenting. The work of a mercenary is never done!
Clearly clothing had to be shed when things got too manly/dirty.
Look how triumphant Lain looks upon reaching the alleged summit! It was short-lived, however.
Quickly Lain discovered he couldn’t actually get up to the window in question. Shoot.
So we made good use of his height and took some “aerial” shots.
There’s the retirement home! And… the ground. Good choices.
Then, like any Executive Director would, Lain squatted on the roof and cleaned out the gutters with his bare hands. It was gross. I was very busy running away from the muck pouring down around me, but still managed to take a picture. For you.
We’re pretty sure that this trap door is the key to our success/where all the dead bodies are hidden. We have no idea how to get up there, as it is directly above very steep and wind-y stairs. Any suggestions?
So, to sum up, we accomplished pretty much nothing, and the Wren’s Nest remains unsealed. Can you imagine how well we’ll document a real adventure?! I can barely wait!
Comments: 7Creative Loafing’s “Tell Me a Story” Neglects The Wren’s Nest
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Failed Attempts at Looking Reputable, Storytelling, This is awkward // 8:01 am
This week’s cover story in Creative Loafing, our local alternative weekly, is about storytelling in Atlanta. Not only that, it’s about storytellers competing with and embracing technology.
The Wren’s Nest, however, was not mentioned. I wonder why not?
I’m trying not to be critical, but at the same time, I think it’s kind of like writing a story about professional sports teams in Atlanta and neglecting to mention we have this basketball team called the Hawks.
It’s not like we’re upset, maybe just baffled.
We think our storytellers are dope. Plus, there aren’t many storytelling venues in the country that offer (free) stories right on the website:
Miss Woodie Persons - Br’er Rabbit Takes a Ride.
Not to mention a couple of our own storytelling podcasts.
All that said–it’s a good article, and you should read it. And then listen to the podcasts, down on the right hand side.
Carmen Deedy, who was at last year’s Decatur Book Festival, is amazing in particular.
Comments: 7