vol. 2, no. 28 | Gratitude

his own

        November 24, 2025

vol. 2,  no. 28 | Gratitude

            For the whiteboards from Gusto, claimed by Halie, that we rolled down 16th St., on which so many of us wrote our names so many times.
The used Steelcase and the Steelwood chairs, brokered by an old neighbor of Drew J.’s, upon which we sat and worked, and often didn’t.
The spotlight modifiers, attached to video lights—relics of a creative detour—for their focusing of our attention, their elevation of everything.
Justin’s late night encouragement, and art direction, and careful and frustrated assembly of so many desks, at which, for a time, we made a kind of living while we strained to hear him.
The birthday hats, which brightened bathrooms and museum halls and tables and restaurants and, on one dark evening, a skull.
For the punchclock, whose steady ticking ritualized ordinary time.
The director’s chair, used for a grand gesture, and the high tables, used as ladders and workstations and a kitchen bar and a DJ station, discovered by Dan among a sea of stories.
The custom coffee cart, from the guy Beth found on Facebook, where mornings were energized by her drinks but mostly by her presence.
The many couches, upon which naps were taken, during workdays and dance parties, upon which we sat and watched shows and movies, upon which we we cried, and talked, and worked, upon which we sat close.
The easily adjustable microphone stand, which we often missed at other venues, for its unfussy easiness.
For the chair rack, and the shelves in the storage rooms, and the A/V cart, assembled by Jim and Dan and Alex, for the peace and order they have provided us.
The weighted blanket, given to us by Lexi, which was and remains a comfort to many, and now a reminder.
The air conditioners, which did their best, whose best was sometimes enough.
And the paper fans from Joe’s mom, which helped when the air conditioners weren’t enough.
The flower arch, a perfect hijink, a backdrop, a frame to a great love.
The mini-fridge, gifted by Chris, for keeping our drinks cool in times of great heat.
The tabletops, crafted by a friend of Justin’s, used for eating and working and drinking coffee, for making art, sweet exchanges, and good conversation.
The plants, cared for by Beth and Allyson, transported from many homes by so many friends.
The art which adorns these walls, all of it gifted or loaned by the people who adorn the space, for making this place feel like a home.
And for Norton’s curiosities, which led us to discover a defunct meetup, which led us to Cacheflowe, and Hovercraft, where Livvy applied, and was hired (for her interests and skills which made that possible!), wherein she one day sat and saw a good sign.
And for this space, without which we might have never met, or met this much, or this consistently, or had the opportunity, or overheard the conversation, or gained the courage, or been inspired—to try something hard, to tell our story, to share our work, to confess our interest, to make something new, to do something scary, to accept help, to become something better than we were before.
For all the good people here with us today, and elsewhere, who ever gave their time or money or talents or objects to this space, who filled it, who helped it exist and persist.
For the many hands that prepared this feast of a life.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, November 27
The Company is about combining creative work with good friendships. Make an appointment with your side project this (or any) Wednesday at a Worknight, where we oscillate between enforced, focused, quiet time and optional chatty social time.
$5, free for Company and Moonlight members
Work together →
Future Weeks:
PowerPoint Party No. 33, Saturday, December 6
Twelve people giving 7-minute presentations about whatever they’re currently into. At past parties, people have presented about architecture, divorce, utensils, and hyper-local history. It’s a wide mix.
It’s a nerdy and sincere crowd that cares a lot, and we’ve met some of our favorite people at these.
Want to present? We’ve got a waiting list (but your chances are good!). Want to just show up and meet interesting people and learn about what’s fascinating them lately? That’s great too. Bring a friend, or come alone and make a friend.
$10, free for members and presenters
Make a point of coming →
—
Also coming up: Offsite: Orbis Holiday Disco Party (December 13), Glint: Frenzy (December 16), Ishmael Book Club: 10–13 (December 18)
Nostalgia
Do you remember The Great British Baking Show finale? The treats that you shared? How Lexi was able to make it? The trophy you won?
How afterward the crowd changed over, and we met Livvy’s new friend from the bus, and the dancing began? That we focused so effortfully on gracefully moving our hips?
Do you remember how during our attempt to file Paperwork we held an extensive discussion about the meaning of Jessica’s nostalgia note of “I’m no Alex P.”?
Do you remember the Wicked sing-along at lunch? The basketball recess? How we were intimidated off the court by the older kids? Jim’s consultation on my splinter and his news of my certain death?
Alex’s jokes, and the debate about whether mention of them should be given in Paperwork? How he imagined a final punchline?
How that afternoon, while Livvy was away, there was a grassroots fomenting of help?
Lauren’s first recess? Her first time on a swing in years?
The first meeting of Alex’s Weekly Run for Anyone?
Do you remember the In the Making with the new faces? The reading, the return of Gabby, the electrical activity, the festival plans, the poetry, the news of a risograph, the apotheosis of visual bookmarking? How long we lingered? That we caught up, and got to know each other, and made plans? The strange glow in the sky?
Or the Creative Mornings, in that strange space, with just the two of us? How the LEGO store was too overwhelming, and we left empty-handed?
And do you remember The Wizard of Oz watch party? A new film for some of us and a refresher to others? Ryan’s popcorn, Lauren’s cookies? How we were reminded of the beautiful and enduring truth that no one should ever move away?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
At Worknight: Jessica S. submitted financial paperwork; Alex completed 1 backlog ticket and made 3 google slides; Ivan completed a weekly review and spent 45 minutes writing; Will worked on planning a websocket extension; Jacob animated a camera for 2 scenes; Bobcat filled out a house sitter application; Jaime worked on writing 1200 words; Livvy filled out her Moonlight form and planned and ordered groceries; Ragna edited 2 pages of a book; and Case worked on a project sheet.
At In the Making: Ivan read a draft of a start to a family history project; Gabby gave a survey of her bald cap Halloween costumes and solicited ideas for next year; Jim demoed his interactive EKG teaching tool; Marvin and Katerina asked for feedback on their In-Progress Fest event; Madeleine took us through her process for writing spoken word poems; Chris shared his branding work for his new publishing company; and Case showed us her years-long effort to create a personal Pinterest.
Finally, a reminder that The Company is a member-supported gathering place, and if you know any of us, you’re welcome to pop in any time for free (outside of events). If you know that one of us is here and you’d like to come by, reach out and we can let you in.
Photos
A couple of Company folks have been in a Great British Baking Show fantasy team organized by Jessica P., and they got together to watch the finale.
And the winner was Sam Ar.! I don’t know much about baking and significantly less about sports, but I understand her victory had something to do with guessing at things better than other people guessed at things.
Some of us are in a Medium Salsa class (which, upon seeing expert salsa dancers, now seems much more like a mild+ class), and there was a nice moment when the Great British Baking Show people were leaving while the salsa folks were showing up. It felt a little bit like that moment in school when everyone is switching classes and gets to pass by each other in the hall or the quad and chat before the next period begins.
We spent a lot of time in this class learning how to move our hips.
This photo would have been a more justifiable inclusion if I was paying any attention to who made this basket, but alas, this is just a cool photo I took of a basket made by either Livvy or Jim or Ryan or Michelle, who all, at some point, did make a basket.
Michelle’s intense commitment to play is something we all continue aspire to.
Lauren T.’s first recess!
We’ve been unsure if the crane has been building apartments or condos so took a quick detour to check. It’s condos.
For Will’s Moonlight goal for Lunation #1272 he worked on a prototype for a death clock, which predicts (somewhat variably) how many weeks you have left until you die.
Alex presenting about his Moonlight goal, which also has something to do with noticing where your life is going.
And a delayed start to the Weekly Wednesday Worknight.
A chit-chatty break to get some ice cream.
They just recently got all these lights up, which adds a nice visual indicator to when in the year this moment happened.
Star ceremony setup.
(Not pictured (I forgot to hand my camera to anyone): I read, for about the full ten minutes, a somewhat epistolary draft to a preface and an origin story.)

Jim demoing his EKG visualizer at In the Making.
Some reactions to a presentation by Gabby.
Who is working on a sprawling and decades-long oeuvre of bald cap Halloween costumes.
Intermissioning.
Some students in the ATLAS program at CU Boulder, who presented work at the Third Annual Creative Coding Art Show, came back to check out In the Making and ended up sharing about the In-progress Fest they’re organizing.
Madeleine sharing how she thinks about writing (slam) poetry.
She included a link to her poem-in-progress with comment access. For many of us, it was difficult to think of anything to improve.
Some of us missed it until the end, but the risograph studio and micro publisher that Chris shared his branding process for is his own risograph studio and micro publisher.
This was a bit of a funny sequence: Chris, in describing his process, shared Arena, which he described as Pinterest for nerds, and then Case proceeded to share how she, a nerd, was building her own version of Pinterest, partially because she doesn’t like ads and doesn’t want to pay for Arena.
No clue what they were talking about but I’m sure it was fascinating.
There was a strange pink-orange glow in the sky, which we briefly speculated about before verifying it was the Broncos-colored lights from Mile High Stadium.
Marcia came by for a landlord-tenant conversation.
In preparation for Wicked for Good (as well as because I had never seen it before), we had a watch party for The Wizard of Oz.
—
This issue of Paperwork was written by Ivan with additional reporting from Jessica S., and was shot by Ivan. Photo selection and editing by Ivan and Jessica S. Editorial support was provided by Livvy. This issue, and The Company itself, was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew J., Justin, Mason, José, Mary Ann, Trevr, Allyson, Lizzie, Elijah, Michelle, Jim, Jaime, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Mike, Ben, Sam, Liz, Christof, Ryan, Lauren, and Leah.
Do you know anyone in the Denver area who might be looking for creative community? Feel free to forward this email along to them. Everyone loves Paperwork.
😘

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