Volume 1, Issue 34 | Embodied Care
This past week we launched a new website (very exciting), a new room layout (medium exciting), and a new recurring event (most exciting): In the Making.
After the show I was remembering one of my all time favorite pieces of writing, a blog post by Emmanuel Quartey about designing a house for his family, in which he says, reflecting on the experience:
I have come to believe that beauty is embodied care. That wherever attention accretes and care pools, regardless of how fine or modest the canvas, the focus of that concentrated loving intent cannot help but produce the quality of beauty.
I found the piece as a whole to be incredibly moving. Reading about the very personal and specific decisions he was making about materials, layout, and even scents, it felt so caring. I teared up—which I do, rather easily—as I read through it.
And watching people present about their passion projects, seeing all the intention and care that went into them, was similarly moving. Similarly tearful.
And I’m so glad we got that event going. Thank you to everyone who presented at and attended our inaugural show, and to Marke and Kim for inspiring it.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, February 5
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.
PowerPoint Party No. 23, Saturday, February 8
What’s a PowerPoint Party, you ask? Twelve people giving 7-minute presentations about whatever they’re currently into. At past parties, people have presented about numbers, spoons, and losing lots of money. 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 one spot left. 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, or free for members and presenters.
Future Weeks:
Yoga with Dan, Sunday, February 9
We invite you to a special Vinyasa Yoga class taught by the one and only Daniel Evan Quay.
This one hour, all-levels “flow” class syncs engaging physical poses with intentional breathwork to build flexibility and coordination while attuning to our inner selves. Students can expect a moderate, low impact workout with light breathing exercises.
Classes are limited to 20 students. Please RSVP early.
We have a limited number of mats available for rental.
We want everyone to have access to Yoga with Dan! We offer 5, free “Community Passes” to each class, including a mat rental.
$12, or free for members.
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Also coming up: Mary Ann’s Book Club: We Hunt the Flame, Glint: Crushing
Nostalgia
Do you remember the lunch when we pictured a world with Justin less stressed? How we finally found the perfect object to heist? Or the afternoon walk when we tried to use our fingers?
That one, entirely new, wildly impractical room setup that we tried for the watch party? How we had to walk all the way around the whole pod to get back?
How London used a whiteboard for the very first time? All of us waving goodbye, mid-episode, as he and Brynn left? Do you remember how after we finished episode two we made a plan for an a cappella rendition of the theme music? How Will said “I can sing a dissonant note!”?
How that was the week with the website deadline, and we spent so much time setting up the collections and publishing and testing things?
The day with Max and Mona and Lee?
The book club on Nonviolent Communication? How we talked about talking, about relationships, about hard conversations we have to have?
The Moonlight report, with the thousand-dollar hat, the paintings, the website reveal, the map video, the video message, and the sleeping-through? The long talk, afterward, of space, and the upcoming moon mission? How we dreamed of a moment when we might, as people concerned with the moon, enjoy watching a shuttle launch?
The newfangled lock mechanism?
Zack’s last visit, on his last week across the street?
How José came in to help set up for In the Making, even though he couldn’t stay for it? How we tried a new default room arrangement, and how long it took to set up, with our questions of bookcase placement?
Do you remember our first In the Making? How moving it was to hear people speak about the love and ideals and joy going into their personal projects? How we met Caleigh and Katya and Helena and Molly and others?
How, as always, we lingered for so long afterward?
That Jim showed up just for the lingering, and also to fix the light?
Do you remember the fourth annual, probably legal, Sundance at Home event? The press chair? The entire theme-park of emotions that was the limited series?
How his body relaxed when he saw her across the room?
How we talked about remembering, and relating, and imagining? How she described her mom—“kicking ass; burning out”? The sniffles in the dim room while the credits rolled? How quietly we tried to sneak out?
The war the next morning, meeting Dalma, the visit to Kent’s, the single-file walking line, the foreign-language drama, the speech team, dinner figuring? The Constitution Team photos?
All the hanging with the regular crew and Julian and Mike?
How Michelle asked if I was weaponizing this section of the newsletter, and we talked about the good old week we had just had?
The subsequent wine-and-dime?
The appearance of Ashley, and other Justin, and Mary Ann, and the strange film about cabbage smugglers?
Do you remember how afterward I had an audience for the Paperwork photo review? That we imagined gifs and laughed at our faces?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We’ve got a new default room arrangement, suggested ages ago by Justin, with the desks up on the low stage. Setting up and resetting from events should go much, much quicker now.
The bathroom lock has been switched to a modern lock! It slides instead of being a small game. Also, the light, and related occupancy indicator, are now working again (thanks, Jim!). As a heads up: sometimes, when you are too eager to get out of the bathroom, you will sometimes slide the lock open too far and it will go flying. You will be shocked briefly, and then worry that you are the first and only person to have ever broken this lock. You may begin to worry. Unless you remember that this was in the Bureaucratic Minutiae of this very issue of Paperwork. You will then calmly pick up the lock and slide it back on.
Thanks to Moonlight we have A NEW WEBSITE! Our previous one had had some thought put into it was but was more a case of getting something usable up as quickly as possible. We were focusing a lot more of our time into the space and the people than our digital presence. But Norton and I professionally design software and websites so we were eager to get back to it as quickly as we could. Thanks to Dan for his Moonlight advisement and general expert feedback.
Our overall goal is to better communicate the kind of place The Company is, and what it’s like to be here, so we focused on a few things:
More member/person visibility! Now, everywhere (or almost everywhere) a name appears, it will link to a page showing things a person has presented at, things they host, photos of them, and—for members who have filled out the member profile form—their profile as well.
Exposing the regularity of events! Our old site didn’t give much of a clear indication that most of our events are a part of ongoing series. Now, on our events page, we expose series and give them dedicated pages showing a roundup of upcoming events, past events, past presentations, and photos.
Better event archives! Now, on series pages (as well as past event pages) that had presentations and associated images, you can see who all presented and about what, and what it looked like.
More images! Still very much in progress, but the goal is to upload the entire Paperwork photo archive, and expose relevant photos in all of the relevant places (people pages, past events, series pages).
A new about page! A work in progress, but this didn’t exist before, and we’ve perhaps over-corrected by now having a super long and detailed about page.
And lastly (and of course) we designed the site to better align with our branding.
Check it out, tell us what’s wrong with it, or (preferably) what you like about it.
At In the Making: Will shared Scrollypage, a tool that encourages websites as art; Ivan presented about his 2025 LEGO Timepiece; Jacob talked about a new editing workflow on a recent video; Elijah shared his process of getting a river pattern in a knife blade; Justin talked about becoming a filmmaker; Michelle made us all confidants in a surreptitious and pulchritudinous project that definitely isn’t about her dear friend and business partner Aly (why would you think that?); Norton demonstrated the apotheosis of a pixel font; and Doug shared the story of the story of Linotype.
January’s attendance data:
1 visit: 70 people
2 visits: 15 people
3–4 visits: 8 people
5–7 visits: 5 people
8–12 visits: 8 people
13–20 visits: 3 people
21+ visits: 4 peopleTotal people: 113
People who came more than once: 43Other notes:
This is the highest total count, the highest 1 column, and the highest 8+ column we’ve had since the start of our records.
Notable moves:
Rebeca, Juan, Sam, and Elliot entering strong at 3+!
Will moved up to 8+
Chris moved up to 13+
Michelle moved up to the 21+ column. (This column is usually only occupied by Management ™️. The only other non-Management who have ever been in the 21+ column are Justin and Dan.)Inevitably: incomplete data.
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.
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, Allyson, Madison, Melissa, Elijah, Dan, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Brynn, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, and our newest member Sarah.
