Volume 1, Issue 12 | Reports
Hey stranger,
Since starting The Company, Livvy and I have had a handful of long-distance friends pass through town who have seen the space, hung around, and met a lot of y’all, and they’ve said some very nice things about The Company and the company. They’ve given us five star reviews, spoken highly of Paperwork, have told us they’re so excited for us to be pursuing a dream we have been talking about for so long. And for people who have known us well to say such affirming things* means the world. But we suspect they are super biased and are obligated to say nice things.
But Bryn, a friend of a friend of a connection of Norton’s, is not obligated to say nice things. And this week after Glint she paid us one of the nicest compliments. She was in town for just a month, shopping for a new city, and said something like were she to live in Denver, this would definitely be one of her places—that this is the kind of spot she hopes to find wherever she ends up.
A vague yet wild hope of ours has been that The Company might someday be a space that makes a person want to move to a city, or stay in a city, and while I fully recognize that what she said wasn’t quite that, it felt like it was in that general direction, and that meant so much.
As it is, some growing amount of us who already live in this city are beginning to feel quite stuck with each other in very nice ways.
And if you don’t join us you’ll die.
Happenings
This week:
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.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, September 4
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.
Future Weeks:
PowerPoint Party No. 18, Saturday, September 14
What’s a PowerPoint Party, you ask? Twelve people giving 7-minute presentations about whatever they’re currently into. At past ones people have presented about their rules for life, how to cross this intersection, designing mazes, queer cinema, and loved ones. 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 (email us back if you want to get on it). Want to just show up and meet interesting people and learn about what’s fascinating them lately? That’s great too. Bring yourself, bring a friend, bring your mom.
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Also coming up: This Denver Type Meetup, Summery, and Glint: Harvest.
Nostalgia
Do you remember how no one was in on Sunday? How it was just the two of us for most of Monday? How everyone showed up on Tuesday?
How Halie came in to practice with the mic, that it was Dan’s birthday and day off and he spent so much of it hanging out? How Drew tested his new camera on us? That it was so hard to focus on work, but in a great way?
The third Glint? That Halie thought she might throw up but told her story flawlessly? The healing of Andrew’s hand? My long pants? How people lingered in different groups before merging into one big group? Talking about the choiceless choice? Trying to reset the room without breaking the moment?
How River cried from happiness for the longest time?
That Justin talked about the film he’s been helping with, and could see a world where he won an Oscar? How he set up the microphone to give a speech, and Lizzie presented him with the award of her water bottle?
Do you remember that afternoon, getting the rug and the stool and the chair, meeting Corey and talking about events? How we thought that could turn into something? That afterward, at The Company, we sprawled out on our new rug and pretended we were having a picnic? How we decided we should definitely host indoor picnics in the winter?
How Justin surprised Halie with a sweet gesture? How we were party to it? How it would have been a 5-point gesture if the gesture rating system had been instituted a day earlier, but instead will never count toward his point total?
The Conscious Spending class? Watching the first episode of the fourth season of OMITB?
Lunch with Aly? Dan and Micheli making masks? How mid afternoon there was a whole table of people crafting?
Do you remember how, in the middle of that, Marcia popped in to tell us about the new artwork on the outside of the building? John and Kent, standing out there looking admiringly? The story they told? That years ago John had hand-printed a photo compilation from original photos he took in Italy—and that he and Kent had just recently been watching a YouTube video about how to wheat paste, and laughed at the end, when one of the tips was to be ready to run if you see cops?
Just the two of us, doing paperwork and Paperwork, while the light faded?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We picked up a rug, a stool, and a chair from Corey from FRNDS Agency, and Lizzie brought by some handy drying racks which we’ll make use of at future workshops. Note that the Block Printing Class will definitely sell out.
The Norton J. King gallery has accepted a loan of art from photographer Drew Jackson (American, 1989–).
At Glint: Halie shared stories about the Abby house, Max took us on a journey to a key source of stress in his life, Justin reminisced on times he stuck around and what they led to, Topaz taught us not to go paddle boarding in Florida, Dana told us about the power of a good book, Andrew shared a moment of recovery, Bryn told us a story she doesn’t tell her clients about asking for help, Allyson talked about a hot date and a dead battery at Lookout Mountain, and Ivan went on at quite some length about a pair of pants.
At Worknight: Livvy sent a screen recording to her work, Halie prepped some clothing returns, Norton got Ivan’s thoughts on the website, and Ivan spent 25 minutes on Company tasks.
At the Conscious Spending Class, José led a small group through a few exercises to help identify scripts and goals and approaches.
*A note to all, and a reminder to Big Movie Guy, that I love it when people say affirming things using words.
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, Aubrey, and Allyson.
