Have you heard the fable about the scorpion who wants to cross a river? And so he finds a turtle and is like “hey bro give me a ride across this river I can’t swim I’m a scorpion”? And the turtle’s like “nah bro you’re gonna sting me and kill me I don’t wanna die” and the scorpion is like “bro why would I kill you bro then we’d both drown I don’t wanna die either bro“ and the turtle is like “bro you’re a scorpion y’all sting people so I don’t trust you” and the scorpion is like “bro come on bro that’s such a stereotype and like yeah I have stung a couple of dudes but I wasn’t riding them across a river I need this bro I can change“ and then the turtle, compassionate to a fault, kind beyond reason, filled with a boundless optimism, believing—wanting so much to believe—that people can change, that he himself has and can change again (and thinking back to his earliest moments, shuffling his small body across the moonlit shore, when he was snatched up by a bird, and the conversation they had, the turtle pleading for his life from the beak of his predator, how the bird cried, and told him that he wanted to change his ways, but he was so hungry, how the bird was in turmoil, and then swooped low and dropped the turtle into the safety of the pulsing waves—remembering that moment too), relents and is like “fine bro hop on“? And lets the scorpion climb on his back, and it seems like it’s maybe going to be okay, but then right when they’re about to reach the shore the scorpion stings the turtle right in the back? And the turtle cries out “bro whyyyyyyy??” as he begins to lose control of his body, and they both begin to sink? How the scorpion, gasping for air as the water begins to wash over him, responds “it’s my nature, bro!”?

Anyway I was thinking about that as I put this week’s newsletter together because I really thought I wouldn’t be sending anything lengthy out. But so much happened! And there were too many photos!

—Ivan

Happenings

This week:

Nothing (official) is happening this week! Enjoy your families or friends or solitude!

Future Weeks:

Old Year’s Resolution Party, Wednesday, Dec 31

What happened to you this past year? How did it resolve? Before whatever wild midnight celebration you’re going to, come to The Company and make a small artifact of 2025.

We’ll provide prompts for guided reflection and also have a chance to hear from each other.

Free

Auld Lang Syne →

PowerPoint Party No. 34, Saturday, January 3

Twelve people giving 7-minute presentations about whatever they’re currently into. At past parties, people have presented about developing film, Rosalind Franklin, naps, and noticing mediation. 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 →

Creative Writing Workshop, Monday, January 5

Madeleine, of Glint and PowerPoint Party and In The Making and The Moth and Mercury Poetry Slam Team fame, will be hosting a creative writing workshop! Which will involve 90 minutes of lightly directed writing around a theme. For the inaugural workshop, the theme is Absence.

The theme will be explored through a series of prompts, and we’ll have progressively more time to respond to each one. At the end of the night, we’ll have the chance (though not the requirement) to share.

Note: this workshop is not for feedback or editing—the purpose is to generate new writing.

Bring yourself and something to write with.

$10, free for members

In the absence of other plans →

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Also coming up: Glint: Search (January 13), In The Making (January 22)

Nostalgia

Do you remember final Medium Salsa class? The last night with Jess? How we spun and dipped until we were dizzy?

Or your delivery of the Christmas tree? How you carried it in your open convertible, and no one was there to see it? How briefly you overlapped and attempted a reenactment of the setup?

And do you remember night of the Blossoms of Light?

That we met up for pizza before, and began by admiring the lights in Beth’s hair? That we all got to meet Logan? That we talked about sourcing lights and ornaments? That Sabrina quickly volunteered and we learned about estatesales.net? How upon reviewing the app, Sarah was surprised by all the photos, and lamented the lack of mystery, and Sabrina said “I don’t care about mystery I care about fabric!”?

The whole extra pizza? The frenzy to find a home for it?

That we said goodbye to Christof, and reconvened at the gardens?

The opening tunnel? The mistletoe? The greenhouse? How we stood and looked at that one tree forever and ever, and blurred our vision to see it better? That we drifted in and out of conversations and groups until we all found each other again at the field of light? That at the end Beth cheered “Good job, sticks!”? How before we parted we huddled and cheered “four” on three, above her sparkling head?

Do you remember Lizzie’s day of card-writing and photo-taking and wax-sealing, while River sniffed around? That we inflated two soccer balls?

The night of Glint? The first stories from Jaime and Ryan? The sweet, the spooky, the heavy, and the scary? How one of Fer’s transitional lines was “so we go to jail”?

Or your solitary lunchtime? The attempted flight of the kite? Your exclusive run club?

The Spanish class, and the delivery of a long-awaited letter?

The warm Worknight with another ice cream break? How after, we crowded around the table to read the card and open the Advent Calendar?

The ceremony? The lost keys?

The Thursday of the final Ishmael book club? The cramming? The time travel questions over dinner? The lighting of the Christmas tree? The discussion, Colleen’s cookies, and the gratitude? The coining of T-Rex?

The Cuppa morning? The lunchtime chatter? The afternoon news? How throughout the day we said our staggered goodbyes, and happy holidays, and ’till next years?

Bureaucratic Minutiae

• Case emailed the CEO of Time Timer to ask if they could make a giant Time Timer, because we often use their app projected on the TV to run Worknight (and previously, before building our custom timer app for shows, would use it for those too). They responded saying they already make one, and then sent it to Case for us for free. Thanks Time Timer! Thanks Case!

• We now have C batteries (courtesy of needing them to power the giant Time Timer).

• Just in time for yuletide, Jim has again delivered us a real Christmas tree. It briefly sat unadorned, but has since been lightly dressed. Additional personally meaningful ornaments are welcome.

• Correspondence from [redacted] is available for viewing on the Christmas tree.

• We now have two useable soccer balls available for recess. Seems the original one was inflatable all along.

• A clerical error has led to the exclusion of two photos in this issue: one of us at Wyman’s, and another of Lizzie making a point about something.

• At Glint: Frenzy: Ivan reminisced about flying a kite, Beth admitted to lying about shower speed, Lauren T. reflected on how she sees herself, Anjali recounted her recent adventures in polyamory, Ryan took us into a haunted room, Allyson painted a vivid picture of disaster, Fer talked about taking herself to jail and getting out for free, Dan taught us about repairing drywall, Jaime walked us through an uphill conversation, and Lauren S. almost had her purse stolen but then it wasn’t.

• At Worknight: Jessica S. scripted a journal entry; Mark finished and turned in an application; Jacob reviewed 100 Japanese flashcards; Sabrina bedazzled 3 letters; Camryn finished sketching the shirt; Lizzie uploaded Paperwork photos to the website and finished crocheting the gray part of a beanie; Dan got each animation onto the site; Alex finished a sign up form and drafted an idea for the next Moonlight lunation.

• I looked it up after writing it out how I remembered it, and it turns out that there’s a few fables I might be conflating. The most popular seems to be a Russian fable about a scorpion and a frog, and in this one they both indeed die. But an earlier fable, a Persian fable, involves a scorpion and a turtle, and in that version the turtle does not die because turtles have protective shells (duh). So I here offer you a post-credits (technically pre-credits) bonus scene:

  And how after a little while of tumbling through the current, slack-jawed and dead-eyed, the turtle ceases its charades and swims up alongside the flailing scorpion, helpless in the water, and they lock eyes, the scorpion desperate, the turtle disappointed? How the turtle, to the scorpion, gives a burbly “bro”, and then swoops up beneath it, and lifts it back to the safety of the solid ground, a debt repaid?

• 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

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This issue of Paperwork was written by Ivan with additional reporting from Jessica S., and was shot by Ivan, Jim, Livvy, Logan, and Drew. 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, T-Rex, Allyson, Lizzie, Elijah, Michelle, Jim, Jaime, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Mike, Ben, Sam, 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.

😘