Volume 1, Issue 38 | Succession
As I write this, Livvy and I are at an airport waiting for our flight while we write instructions for how to run The Company during our two weeks away. Since starting The Company with Norton we’ve really loved our everyday life, so much so that this vacation we’re about to go on comes with a little bit of loss. My fear of missing out is more like a certainty of missing out. Norton will also be away, in a different place, for other reasons, so the management of The Company over these next two weeks is being handled by Dan and Michelle, with a host of helpers. Michelle and Dan will be running Paperwork over the next few issues, so I’ll hand it over to them from here. I look forward to the confirmation of missing out.
—Ivan
As we write this, Dan is reading Ivan’s introduction paragraph out loud. We are one day late posting this and we are now in awe of how much work Ivan puts into Paperwork each week. Ivan did 70% of this week’s issue over a few hours at the airport and it has taken us almost 48 hours to complete the remaining 30%. Also though, we both have ADHD so that might be a contributing factor. We hope you enjoy this installation of Paperwork and we’d like you to mentally prepare for the inevitable chaos of the next two issues.
— Michelle & Dan
Happenings
This week:
Survival Scouts, Tuesday, March 4
Hosted by Lexi, Survival Scouts is a brand new club where we’ll imagine and prepare for possible futures, together.
It’ll be a combination of doomsday prepping, off-grid training, and anti-capitalist homesteading. On the docket: food canning, gun safety, basic cybersecurity, rainwater collection, how to pack a go-bag when you have pets, knot-tying, clothes repair, food foraging, self-defense, and more.
At this first intro meeting we’ll be discussing our goals for the club and talking about the structure of future sessions.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, March 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. 24, Saturday, March 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 emoji, boy bands, passwords, and beetles. 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. 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, March 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: Glint: Secrets, In the Making, Mary Ann’s.
Nostalgia
The Sunday with the warm weather neighborhood coffee drinkers?
The book club selection? The call for a recount? The confirmation that there was an early voting cohort and a last minute voting cohort and that all of the votes were properly accounted for?
The resumption of Michelle and Livvy’s Daily Walk for Everyone? How the walk took place in what felt like a landmine? When Norton used a $1 bill to pick up a discarded pair of Ray Bans and we debated the legitimacy of them?
The day with Tricia? When Norton beat Dan at chess?
Do you remember the new monitors? How unboxing one of them set off a chain of events that resulted in you gingerly picking out a paint tube cap from the bathroom sink with chop sticks? The attempt at removing the black paint with cold water and our fingers? The indescribable tremor? How a combination of Norton, a Scrub Daddy, and Comet successfully finished the job?
Episodes 5 and 6? The demonstration of proximity? How Trevr asked if he could say a question? How Ben brought pop culture and homemade popcorn? The sharing of vessels?
How the stars in the sky were so good?
The return to office? How the weeks of thumbs down switched to thumbs up?
The walk with Marcia?
The discussion around strengths and weaknesses? The admission that your only shortcoming was your inability to reframe your weaknesses as strengths?
In the Making? The works in progress that ranged from custom-coded coffee machines (for consistency) to creatively constructed anniversary show music? The inspired questions and the thoughtful answers? Dan’s spotlight management?
The motherly and fatherly titles bestowed upon Ivan and Livvy? The slightly spicier ones given to Dan and Michelle?
The clarifying question on whether the L-shaped couch was a lowercase l or an uppercase L?
The vending machine expedition? The two packs of gum and the rubber duckies?
The obsequious pizza gratitude? How we put the pizza on The Company dime?
The 11-star, 9-person night?
The Moonlight Report? Sabrina in her homemade kurta? The talk of unresponsiveness?
Lizzie’s 30 second pitch?
How Dan arrived with mochi donuts? The 9-song musical karaoke experience?
Mason running Creative Coding Demo Day? Cuppa’s 2nd official week open and the joy of introducing new people to the space?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We have a new cart that is now home to the microwave. To everyone who has ever wondered why on earth we have a microwave on top of a refrigerator, it was because we hadn’t had this cart yet.
With Ivan, Livvy, Drew and Norton away, we have 3 hot desks available for members. Each of them with a fancy screen to plug into.
At Worknight: Alex successfully ran his first Weekly Wednesday Worknight, 9 people attended and 11 stars were filled in, Dan finished his shelf layouts, Alex further iterated on the meaning of life and built two management effigies, Lizzie triple checked her spreadsheet and re-did the first row of her sweater, Livvy applied for and printed their visas to travel to Indonesia, Ivan finished one work task, Chris solved a video padding problem and took out the recycling, Allyson created some talking points, Madison finished interview prep with the STARR method. For their tremendous victory, The Company bought 4 pizzas and placed them carefully atop The Company Dime.
At In The Making: Jim discussed an espresso engineering project, Caleigh shared a music and design crossover project, Mike got one step closer to his dream of being a documentary filmmaker, Lee spoke to us about repetition, iteration, and chatter, Allyson debuted a beautiful gift of a beautiful painting, Alex shared the meaning of life, and Ivan shared some meaningful musical masterpieces.
Attendance data is paused until Livvy returns. Mostly because we do not want to count all these timesheets. We also want to highlight how much effort Livvy puts in every month counting these timesheets.
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., Alex, and Jessica.
