Volume 1, Issue 39 | How Can I Help?
Every month before the PowerPoint Party, folks show up about an hour early to help ready the space to host 50+ people in our little home.
We quickly move tables, run cords, put up signs, write on boards, set up chairs & spotlights, test audio, set out snacks & drinks, put out name tags, clean, refill soap & towels, sweep, vacuum, fill up the water filters, and de-clutter the space. It’s an exciting process that can take three hours alone or about 20 minutes with company.
This week while we set up the space for PowerPoint Party No. 24, I noticed that as they arrived, everyone (and I mean everyone) came up to me and asked “how can I help?” While we miss Ivan, Livvy, and Norton so much, it’s been really special to acknowledge all the people that keep this place going.
Justin says the successful hosting of a PowerPoint Party without Management in town is proof that this grand experiment (the building, the members, The Company) is working. We’re glad we get to give Management a bit of a break, and we hope to continue to do right by this place until they return.
Ivan, Livvy, Norton:
The place hasn’t burned down yet.
In fact, it might actually be cleaner. 😉
—Dan & Michelle
Happenings
This week:
Yoga with Dan, Sunday, March 9
This time we are writing this section of Paperwork after Yoga With Dan took place. This section left for posterity.
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.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, March 12
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:
Glint: Secrets, Tuesday, March 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.
$10, or free for tellers and members.
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Also coming up: In the Making (March 25), Mary Ann’s Book Club: The Other Significant Others (March 31) Survival Scouts (April 1), PowerPoint Party No. 25 (April 5).
Nostalgia
Do you remember the off-site Oscars Watch Party? How Justin got 19/23 guesses correctly and won two film festival tickets? The Top Hat? The Pajamas?
The the visitor-filled Monday? When we worked with Elliot, Brien, Fred, and Andrew? Do you remember the Japan planning with Justin and Andrew?
How about when it was finally down to just the two of us and the mountain of work that is Paperwork? Do you remember the procrastination sushi? The green tea tiramisu that lifted our spirits? Our sweaty, hand-held one-day-late email sendout?
Do you remember the greasy burger from My Brother’s Bar? Do you remember how Dan couldn’t get that song out of his head, so he had to listen to the CatDog theme song to overpower it? How he then kept singing the CatDog theme song for the rest of the night? Do you remember the ghost door? The birth of Memechelles™? How nowhere is safe?
Do you remember the slow week? How the effigies of Ivan and Livvy moved around the space, taunting us?
The first meeting of the Survival Scouts? How everyone wanted to learn how to catch, skin, and eat a fish?
How about when all of our allergies started up again? How Justin had to go back home to address his symptoms?
The sleepy Wednesday with Ashley? The standing lunch with the heater?
Do you remember the record-breaking work night? The 15 star board!? The amazing star ceremony where we tangled and untangled so quickly? Mason’s on-screen duck friend who can wave back?
How about the long conversation about not overreacting or under-reacting? The best case and the worst case scenarios? The new Matcha recipes? The citrus suggestions?
Do you remember setting up for the PowerPoint Party? Dan’s uncontainable rage about the storage room? Talks of the difference between digital and physical organization? The brewing coup d'état?
Do you remember Mason’s expletive-riddled greeting to Lizzie, right before meeting her guest (her mom)?
Do you remember the PowerPoint Party? How we ran out of chairs? How we realized just how lucky we are to have an Ivan and a Livvy and a Norton to do this every month? Do you remember how Mark MCd? When he asked if there were any first-timers and almost a quarter of the crowd cheered?! Do you remember Emily presenting on Judith and how we all cheered for women-made paintings of biblical beheadings?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
We (Jim) hung a new art piece by Madison on the Northwest Wall of the Norton J King Gallery, joining pieces by Allyson Amanda, Drew Jackson, Ivan Ruiz-Knott, Justin Schaffer, and Malika Khurana.
At Survival Scouts: At the first troop meeting, the group discussed skills, interests and goals. Future off-sites may or may not include: lock picking, wilderness training, fishing, go bag packing, cybersecurity, gun safety, knot tying, and first aid. Sound like fun? Sign up for next month.
At Weekly Wednesday Worknight: Madison handily ran her first Weekly Wednesday Worknight. 10 people attended and a record-breaking 15 stars were filled in. Lexi prepared for a meeting and bought tickets for a play, Alex pulled data sets for Jess, Dan learned how to use the projector and sent Pablo some files, Galen created some graphics, Jim hung a new art piece by Madison and made some planets orbit, Rebeca finished one Leetcode, Will added shapes to a website folder, Mason created a time picker control, Madison wrote a handwritten letter to a friend and found some flights to a future friend’s wedding, Allyson cleaned the bathroom and watered the plants, and someone finished the Courage Club launch logistics without signing their name.
Dan has begun the Company Cleanup Initiative™. The initiative is focused on establishing structure and systems for our daily, monthly, and yearly storage organization here at The Company. So far the Initiative has only filled Dan with seething rage.
(As a somewhat-related sidenote, if you have brought The Company anything in a Tupperware or serving platter, we are so thankful, and we encourage you to come reclaim your dishes! And again, we are so thankful.)
At PowerPoint Party No. 24: Simon presented about pyramids, Rebekah told us why it’s good to be sad, Mary Ann Bennett schooled us on stems, Brynn taught us how to be whole, Lauren enlightened us about our appendices, Lizzie invited us to write handwritten letters, Kayla presented her Dating Wrapped, Elijah taught us about (good) knives, Emily illuminated us on the story of Judith, Tricia told us about two Windsors, Beth opened up about horror films, and Dan gave a pop music history lesson on Milli Vanilli.
Ivan, Livvy, and Norton are still out this next week (10-15), meaning we have four open hot desks for visitors to use for most of the week.
As no Chess games have been played for the past week, Norton remains Grandmaster.
Cuppa remains open Fri, 8-1, Sat + Sun 9-2. New Spring menu coming soon!
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.
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☝ Please note: While Ivan has figured out a way to take color-accurate photos of images cast by our projector, we, sadly, have not. Some images may have a rainbow effect. And again, we do apologize.
