Volume 1, Issue 10 | Feeling Peachy
Ivan Ruiz-Knott: Do you ever walk around the neighborhood and wonder at things? The house with the beautiful flowers? A giant milk jug? All the good dogs? That oddly tall brick building?
Some of the producers at our radio show, well, lately we’ve been wondering at peaches.
A few steps from our front steps there’s a short but sprawling bush-like thing that’s been growing fruit recently. Olivia Ruiz-Knott, one of the senior producers at our show, for weeks, without fail, has wondered out loud to any of us with her if those fruit are peaches. And we’ve talked about how we have no idea how that works. Can a peach tree grow out of a sidewalk? Do peach trees even grow in Denver? It’s not stranger than a wild snake living on the block.
Recently, Livvy decided to ask someone who would know.
From a text exchange this week:
Livvy: John! Are we allowed to eat any of these peaches?! Is that what these are on these trees outside?
Ivan Ruiz-Knott: John lives next door, in a house. But he also works next door, in a beautiful photo studio that’s smushed right up against our studio. He is also our landlord. And so we run into him a lot, and almost every time we see him outside he’s tending to these trees, or watering plants—on his steps, in the patio area, on the sidewalks. So he would know.
John: At this point, they are not ripe yet. Yes they are peaches. Yes it would be nice for you guys to try some of them. Also, maybe help me keep others away for the time being. It’s a hard job. Some years people have come and stole every single peach during the night or something I’m not sure. Yay, we only get peaches every two or three years because of the freeze off in the spring.
Ivan Ruiz-Knott: 🫡
Livvy: Okay good to know! I’m sorry that people have stolen your peaches. That’s so discouraging.
Ivan Ruiz-Knott: During this text exchange, Livvy and I were sitting at our desks here at the studio, and I looked over to her and said “Peach Patrol“ and she said “Peach Patrol“ back, and we decided to get shirts made.
And then John texted back:
John: I agree, discouraging, but will move on and this is going to be our year.
John: 🍑🍑🍑
Ivan Ruiz-Knott: Norton, one of the other producers at our show who was also in that thread, commented later at how heart warming it was to see the peach emoji used to refer to actual peaches.
And it’s true. It’s been one of the many things this past week at our radio show that has had us feeling good about things. We had a guest producer and dear friend, Stephen Erich, visiting from New York; we had many good conversations and saw each other in many different places; and we put on a live show: PowerPoint Party No. 17. It was all a very good time, and as always, we’re excited for what’s coming up next.
And I have to say that, here at our radio show, we’re feeling like John is right: this is going to be our year. And not just for peaches.
From The Company, this is Paperwork. I’m your host Ivan Ruiz-Knott, reporting to you from the East Half of Lots 16–19 in Block 11 of the Union Addition of Denver.
As you know, every week on our show we pick a theme, and bring you happenings, nostalgia, and bureaucratic minutiae, hardly any of which have anything to do with that theme. This week: Feeling Peachy.
Stay with us.
Happenings
This week:
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, August 21
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, or free for Company and Moonlight members.
Offsite: Creative Mornings
Early on in our move to Denver, long before we started The Company, Norton, Livvy, and I started attending Creative Mornings, a monthly breakfast lecture series for the creative community that has a Denver chapter. We met and continue to meet great people there, and some of us Company folk are going to the next one this Friday, which is atypically at a park.
Future Weeks:
Glint: Stuck, Tuesday, August 27
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 “Stuck“, and we’ve got 4 of 12 teller slots left, if that seem like the kind of theme you’d be interested in telling a story at.
Conscious Spending Class, Thursday, August 29
Learn to feel good about your money with this conscious spending class. José, member of The Company, will go over the topic of crafting a conscious spending plan for September, creating opportunities to grow your income, and 2 practical tips to enjoy more of your money this upcoming month! Come hang out to plan your next month and feel good about life in Denver. Limited spots.
Join or Die, Tuesday, September 3
The Company is pleased and proud to officially host a screening of Join or Die, “a film about why you should join a club, and why the fate of America depends on it.” This documentary is based on the research of Robert Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone—a book we reference often when talking about our motivations for starting The Company and which we have almost read. As hosts, some of us had the chance to see an early screening, and it’s such a well done and entertaining overview of such a critical idea.
Nostalgia
Do you remember how it felt to be featured in another issue of Currentss? Our favorite kind of press?
That Steve was with us most of that week? How the first day coming in on the bus Norton got on a stop later, and it was a moving reunion?
How I was on hours of calls and saw Steve meeting and talking to so many of you, and it was the worse kind of missing out?
Or all of the BeReals that week from the same moment at different angles—waiting for food at Maci, sitting at our desks, sitting at the tables, walking to Friday Lunch—and how at one point Justin said “I don’t wanna BeReal, I wanna be cool.”?
That after wandering around the neighborhood—looking at shoes and paper and eating pizza and ice cream—we ended up back at The Company, and watched Footloose for the very first time? How it felt strange to do this without Big Movie Guy around, and we wondered if we should try to keep it a secret? Wondered if we could cover our tracks well enough that he wouldn’t notice?
Do you remember how we finally experimented with a food bartering system? And how Lizzie brought banana bread one day, not even knowing about the system, but just because she was nice?
How Livvy texted John about the fruit growing just outside The Company and we considered forming a neighborhood watch?
Atniel switching the switcher? The game of chess? How Allyson gave Steve a palisade peach to try to convince him to move to Denver?
How the pull chain for the ceiling fan light got stuck, and we became the kind of place that leaves a light on for you?
How Ryan from Dynamic Dinners came by to talk to The Management, and we realized that we might be quarter circles but might benefit from instead being more like squares?
Or seeing Mason perform at Ophelia’s? How we met Megan of Mon Cher, and that after one the songs we turned and clapped at Mason instead of the band, and he smiled but didn’t look up because he had to adjust his knobs for the following set? How we ran into Rick afterward?
How Friday Lunch at Tony P’s was small but good? Like their tiny cannoli?
How we had so much help before and after PowerPoint Party? How we learned about plants and language and personality and cinema and pottery and podcasts and addresses? How we all said “ma” instead of “may”? That there were so many new people? That we made it out before midnight?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
According to our punch card system, we had 40 people come through this past week.
We’ve got a new ethernet switch, thanks to a kind donation from Atniel, who also helped us get our ethernet network up and running in the first place. If you ever need/want to hardwire into the network for even faster upload and download speeds, now you can.
The baptistry is now long-term storage.
We have acquired two large-ish beanbags. They are not that plump, but the space is now slightly cozier.
The bathroom hallway light works again.
Allyson loaned us a beautiful 36" × 36" painting of hers, and Justin has loaned two original works of art.
We’ve hung one of Justin’s cyanotypes, and a three-color pen plot by Norton.
Justin has brought in some additional art supplies which we are excited to use (misc frames, bookends, a paper cutter, slide projector, relief printmaking supplies).
We received marketing assets for our upcoming screening of Gary Hustwit’s “Eno”, and eight artists have agreed to showcase their work at Creative Code Denver’s second annual Demo Night / Art Show.
In hyperlocal neighborhood news, our downstairs neighbor, Kent Flora, has just recently opened up his gallery, and has had occasional open hours. If you’re in the market for beautiful objects for your home or third place, he’s got a lot of nice things. Find him downstairs, or on Instagram.
Please don’t eat any of the peaches outside The Company. They aren’t ready yet. Also, please do your best to scold or otherwise fend off any peach thieves.
At Worknight: Livvy wrote up a concept pitch for work and wrote an outline for a script, Ivan made edits to a Light Bearers mailing and worked on his PowerPoint presentation, Allyson finalized a menu, and Stephen signed a contract.
At Powerpoint Party: Lynn presented about
home ownershipplant addiction, Jacob presented about how hard it is to learn Japanese, Melissa presented about how to learn to read, Micah presented about introversion and extroversion, Livvy presented about how to cross the intersection, Micheli presented about queer cinema, Lizzie presented about Polish pottery, Kayla presented about her guilty pleasure, and Ivan presented about finding the address for The Company.Steve was Company Chess Grandmaster on Wednesday. (Per current rules, Grandmaster status only lasts one day.)
And this week we completed the first quarter of our lease. Thanks so much to all our members for supporting our fledgling public radio show.
Finally, a reminder that The Company is a membership-supported mixed-use creative space, 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.
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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This issue of Paperwork was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew, Justin, Mason, Lexi, José, Mary Ann, Trevr, and Aubrey.
