vol. 2, no. 35 | Looking
Our first fourteen PowerPoint parties were hosted in Livvy and my apartment. We began by inviting everyone we knew and at our first one we had twenty people, many of them neighbors in our building. It grew from there. After meeting any new interesting person it was an easy thing to say “Hey, we’re hosting a PowerPoint party, you should come!”, and existing and new friends ended up inviting friends of theirs, who invited friends of theirs, who invited friends of theirs.
The room in our apartment was only as big as the spot here where we have the desks, so really not a lot of space, but we would shrink down our dining room table, reconfigure our modular couch, and eventually we began borrowing chairs and stools from Norton, who lived a few floors down. (We would sometimes sit on them while we rode the elevator up and down.) Still, near the end of that run, quite a few people would end up standing, looking in from the kitchen, or sitting on the floor.
The lack of room is part of what prompted us to pursue a dream the three of us had for a shared space. Quite a few of the friends we had made through the PowerPoint parties encouraged us in this, and as you’ve probably heard by now we had the great fortune of Livvy seeing a For Lease sign, calling the number, meeting our landlords, and getting this all started. Which led to even more friends inviting more friends inviting more friends.
I was thinking about all of this this past week because Livvy and I take polaroids of everyone who ever comes over to apartment and we pin them up on a cork board. Last week we culled and reorganized the board to group people by how we know them. And so, again, all the chains of connections became apparent: There’s the friend from college’s wife’s friend’s dog’s friend’s person, the friends from Boston’s friends’ many friends (and one of their dates), the neighbor’s childhood friend’s roommate’s many siblings, and the many people we met at different creative events across the city, some of whom have their own endless chains of connections.
I was showing the board to Lizzie and some other friends this past Friday, and in describing one connection I told the story of a falling out we had with some early and important close friends. How they had meant a lot to us, and how after that friendship ended we felt adrift in this city.
The conversation moved on to other things after that, but what happens next in that story is that we lose other close friends to moves, we begin to feel discouraged about our odds of finding a friend group like we used to have in Boston, Livvy starts to talk about moving away to a place where we already have people, I keep feeling hopeful that we can still find a friend group, and then, over the holidays, we go back to our hometown and attend a friend’s PowerPoint party, and decide to try that.
A little later in the evening, unrelated to any talk of cork boards, Lizzie was telling some of us that she and Ryan had gone on a walk around The Company that day and were talking about how they had each found The Company, and how they were both looking for something like this when they came across it.
And she said, “Isn’t it so sweet how we were all looking for each other?”
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Glint: Search, Tuesday, January 13
True, personal stories, told live, without notes. Pretty much exactly like The Moth, except without the competition, on Tuesdays instead of Fridays, and everyone knows each other (or is about to). Our next theme is “Search“.
Do you have a story of searching? Of being searched for? Being found or being lost? Investigating? Trying to find something in a book, on the internet, or in space? Can you tell us about your quest for meaning, a soulmate, or your car keys? Have you googled yourself? Do you have an interesting search history? Whatever your interpretation, we want to hear it.
Come hear stories from Lauren T., me, Laura, Jenna, James, Livvy, Andrew, Jim, Ryan, and Jon.
We’ve got a few teller slots left, so if you’re interested in telling a story reply and let us know.
$10, or free for tellers and members.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, January 14
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
Future Weeks:
In The Making, Thursday, January 22
A show and tell for original, amateur, creative works in progress. Each presenter has 10 minutes to spend however they choose (any mix of presenting, Q&A, workshopping, getting feedback).
Come here from Gus, Earl, me, Madeleine A., Gabby, Allyson, Lauren T., Livvy, Christof, and Dan.
$10, or free for members and presenters.
Mary Ann’s Book Club: Atmosphere, Monday, January 26
Mary Ann’s Book Club is back after a long pause caused by a sentient gorilla! Her book club rotates monthly between fiction and nonfiction, and the first book in this new season is Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Atmosphere was a #1 New York Times bestseller, and has something to do with love and space. (As in outer space). Early reviews from Company readers are positive.
Snacks and drinks will be provided to fuel our conversation.
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Also coming up: Creative Writing Workshop: Time (February 2) PowerPoint Party No. 35 (February 7), Annual Performance Review (February 28)
Nostalgia
Do you remember the Wicked double feature watch party? The sandwich mixup and Livvy’s cookie negotiation? Nancy’s genuine surprise at the many twists? How her sandwich made her cry? Katie’s trivia? The bonus scenes? The late arrival of Jim?
Or the first full day back in work mode? Our discussion of the hot desk, that Jessica always called “the desk with the good personality”? How Ryan said it dresses well for its rectangular shape? How Adam and Jim appeared? How at recess we kicked the soccer ball around, and Jim slide-tackled nothing?
How Livvy worked on the punchcards as Jim and Jessica talked with her for ages about side projects and babies?
Do your remember Madeleine’s first Creative Writing Workshop? How we talked about crimes and residences while we waited to begin? How we wrote through prompts about absence using different pens and devices? How at the end some of us shared, and we snapped and made listening sounds and laughed as we heard haikus and memories and fictions?
The whole day with just the three of us?
Do you remember the day that Simon came in? How we took the long recess walk to the river? That Adam explained nanny shares to Alex? How Simon helped us out with his expert bird identification?
How after recess Adam gave Simon an I Ching reading while Management met with the landlords?
Do you remember that time, before Worknight, when Alex and Jessica S. tried to find songs that Livvy might know? That they played so many songs from our youth, both waving their phones around to the music, and Livvy knew only two?
Or the heavily anticipated return of Drew A.? How the hugging line was a chaos of excitement? The big turn out? The many reading goals? The ice cream walk? The group photo with the Time Timer? The star ceremony with a tricky unraveling? How we couldn’t figure out any way to reravel, because we had already forgotten what we’d just done seconds before?
And do you remember the tragedy of the stock show parade? How some of us, seeking to see the fronts of the front-most cows, gathered at The Company, walked to collect Allyson, and then made our way to a crowded Union Station only to discover that they had started early? How out of the seven of us that attempted, only two saw any cows at all, and half of those that saw the cows had just stayed home?
Do you remember our tiny and heart-felt felt-application party, while we eavesdropped on Justin’s meeting with Mikey?
Or the day you two took a walk around the block and observed how sweet this all is?
That some of us got together for some recreational horror? The jump scares, the screams, the hilarious ending? How we talked afterward about the scariest movies we’d ever seen?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We have begun applying felt pads to the legs of the white IKEA chairs. Currently 16 out of 50 chairs are complete, and they now make slightly nicer sounds upon their dragging.
Our newest member, Madeleine, is hosting our newest recurring series, Creative Writing Workshop! It will be on the first Monday of every month.
At Worknight: Dan updated the illustration, started updating/streamlining icons, and finished menu and vinyl updates; Case took a call, completed 2025 tax prep, and finished certifying Time Timer Max; Lauren T. read 200 pages; Hannah worked on 1 module; Ivan read 88 pages; Mary Ann readied Ridwell recycling; Drew read 2 chapters; Livvy worked on fleshing out an outline; Jessica S. finalized an architecture diagram; Allyson worked on MCD for 50 minutes, an orientation doc for 20 minutes, and a spreadsheet and accompanying word doc for career explorations; and Alex fixed a bug.
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 and Hannah. 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, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Mike, Ben, Sam, Liz, Christof, Ryan, Lauren, Leah, and our newest member, Madeleine.
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.
😘
