Volume 1, Issue 36 | Sophomore Year
From the start, we’ve talked about The Company as a year-long experiment. We were super lucky to find a year-long commercial lease (compared to the standard three-to-five), and figured that if we reached some particular metrics of success (in-progress but close) we’d just renew forever and ever, in this same exact spot.
And if not, we’d just throw a devastating, elegiac closing party. We would weep and sign yearbooks and feel grateful that at least we tried something.
For reasons we can get into later, the forever and ever plan might not be able to happen in this same exact spot (though believe you us we’ve been scheming). But. We’ve gotten word that we’ll be able to get another year in this space, starting in May.
So we’ll be renewing for a second season. Gonna write the sequel. Move on to Volume 2. An Electric Boogaloo. A Sophomore Year.
And after that? Who knows. But to misquote Jorge Luis Borges, “the Company is eternal and… it will last until the last night of the world, when the last god annihilates the cosmos.”
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Mary Ann’s Book Club: We Hunt the Flame, Monday, February 17
A book club switching between fiction and non-fiction. This month, We Hunt the Flame, by Hafsah Faizal. A romantasy, enemies-to-lovers kind of book.
Snacks and drinks will be provided to fuel our conversation.
$0–$10
You might hate and then love this book →
Glint: Crushing, Tuesday, February 18
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 “Crushing“, and we’ve got a few storyteller slots left.
Do you have a story about an unbearable weight? Mad skills? An infatuation? A smashing success? Whatever your interpretation, we want to hear it. We’ve got a good lineup of tellers, and room for more.
Reply to this or reach out if you’re interested in telling.
$10, or free for tellers and members.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, February 19
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.
Cuppa Grand Opening, Saturday, February 22
Already softly open for a bit, Beth will be properly and grandly opening Cuppa! Standard Saturday hours (9a–2p), but a lot more exciting. Come support, and celebrate, and mark the occasion.
Future Weeks:
In the Making, Tuesday, February 25
Our newest recurring event!
Directly inspired by the lovely yet infrequent Make & Tell events hosted by The Made Shop—whence Justin and Michelle and Ashley and were discovered, and Mike and Elaine (and Caleigh!) discovered us—we are hosting a similar but different event:
In the Making is a showcase of original, amateur, creative works in progress. Our first one was so lovely, and we’re looking forward to this being a new regular rhythm. Are you interested in sharing about a passion project, and what you’ve been learning through it? We’re interested in hearing about it.
Reply to this or reach out if you’re interested in presenting.
$10, or free for members and presenters.
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Also coming up: PowerPoint Party No. 24.
Nostalgia
Do you remember Yoga with Dan? How at the start he described The Company, and it was a sweet thing to hear? The cartwheel practice after? Rebekah’s grace, and Micah’s effort?
How that afternoon the two of us sat at the table eating Jimmy John’s, looking out on the empty room about to be filled with salsa?
That people filtered in, Mason with pizza and Michelle with a feast of Cuban snacks? That Livvy got her Mii made, and Mason filled his virtual world with more of us, and Jess and I fussed with cables and bluetooth until the music started playing?
How the salsa class was so much fun? All the steps, the fumbling, the rotating, the twirling, the hip-swaying? That we learned about tension and contact, and spent so much time counting and looking down, the furrowed brows and the smiles?
Do you remember that after it officially ended, we hung back and practiced some more? That Casey helped us practice while I worked on Paperwork? How we talked about journaling while I reflected upon reflecting on weeks?
Or the quiet Monday, with the cold walk and the trespassing? The setting up? The second walk to pick up Postino? That we talked about traveling, and wearing glasses, and we learned that Norton couldn’t clearly see far-away faces for a very long time—how strange it was for him when he finally could?
The madness of episodes 3 and 4?
How Jim came in and made it impossible to accidentally slide the lock out ever again?
Talking, over lunch, about the possibility of movie nights, and Will’s canoe trip? That when we asked what he learned, after a thousand miles of water, it was a realization that he can handle things? That he was the same person there as he would be anywhere?
How the electrician came in, and we learned so much? And Marcia came in to answer some questions and we ended up talked about the lease, and seller financing, and knitwear brand collabs? How we laughed about how concerning it would be for all of us to be wearing identical knitwear, and she said that she had turned to John at some point and wondered if they were renting to a cult? The good news of another year?
How that afternoon we made plans and did some sloppy math, and we talked about Switchyards, and wondered at our idealism, and how we were different? That Livvy said “Yeah but there they just go for the desks. But here—” (dramatic pause) “they come for—” (longer dramatic pause, a wait gesture, turned to a pointing gesture with a simultaneous head tilt down, like a preacher)—and then we saw what she was doing, and were both angry and happy about it, and started laughing before she finished?
Do you remember the jam session on that terribly cold night? How Lexi decided not to come because it was too cold outside? That we made a pivot, and started to scheme? How Brynn lent us the language of a heat wave?
How we waited outside for quite a while, and I forgot about the roommate and didn’t know about the dog? How we were shaking from either the cold or the nerves, and she let us in?
That afterward, on the way back, we talked about adventure and spontaneity, and when asked about the last time he was spontaneous, Trevr answered, laughing, “I’d have to check my calendar!”?
The quiet Wednesday? How it was too cold to walk outside so we walked laps inside? Worknight? How we both unraveled and reraveled a seven pointed star formation? How Jacob looked it up and reported that we had made a “stelated septagon”?
How on the walk to Pita Central, the day I was away, Dan talked about missing his chaos-buddy Michelle, and feeling like a rogue electron? How he proceeded to demonstrate by erratically spinning and circling the two of you, before running into someone he knew?
The Discord chatter about Survival Club?
Cuppa day 3, Valentine’s Day, and more talk of the apocalypse? The change to Survival Scouts? The lunch at bartaco—how we talked so long of love? That we discussed the idea that a crush is just a lack of information, and whether we agreed with that?
The salsa break after?
How later that afternoon we talked and talked and talked about the crazy idea to buy the building, and whether to, and the risks, and the ruleset? How we took a long tangent into baseball metaphors?
Do you remember how the day ended with London and Brynn bringing in cookies and treats?
Beth’s second Saturday? The quiet snowfall, while Norton assembled furniture?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We’ve got some more adjustable-height mini-tables and lamps.
The work on the website continues! I’ve been slowly uploading a backlog of photos, and Livvy has been rather successfully encouraging members to fill out their profiles, and Norton has been updating those profiles. If you haven’t had the chance to meet everyone yet, check out the member page.
At Worknight: Madison completed her membership profile, Mason implemented 3D fractal controls AND an entity save/load system, Will turned cut-out images to SVG, Alex generated 55 card ideas and fixed the end-of-season resource bug, Jacob wrote one section of the script, and Ivan reached out to current and potential Glint tellers and uploaded another back-issue of photos.
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 B., Trevr, Allyson, Madison, Melissa, Elijah, Dan, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Brynn, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Mary Ann T., and Alex.
