Volume 1, Issue 41 | Exceeds Expectations
I expected this first week back to be a good one, and it was much more than that. Revelations, milestones, and hijinks—a change of season. We had too many photos to cull and Nostalgia goes on forever.
If you were here, thanks so much for being a part of it. If you weren’t, I wish you could’ve been.
Wonderfully, there’s more to come.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
In the Making, Tuesday, March 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 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. Are you interested in sharing about a passion project, and what you’ve been learning through it? We’ve got one spot left. Are you interested in just attending and learning about people’s creative work? We’ve got roughly forty spots left.
For our third installment, hear from Emma Hill, Gabby Melli, Brien Hopkins, Chris von Burske, Elliot Archuleta, Sarah Menz, and Juniper Pollock.
$10, or free for members and presenters.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, March 26
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:
Moonlight Report, Monday, March 31
Moonlight members only (for now). This is where Moonlighters show off work from the last lunation and commit to projects for the next lunation. Interested in joining a social club for side projects based around the cycle of the moon where lots of money is (optionally) on the line? Reply to this email.
Mary Ann’s Book Club: The Other Significant Others, Monday, March 31
A book club switching between fiction and non-fiction. This month’s book is The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center, by Rhaina Cohen.
Snacks and drinks will be provided to fuel our conversation.
$0–$10
Talk to your friends about friendship →
Survival Scouts Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, April 1
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.
Offsite: April Block Party, Sunday, April 13
Friend of The Company Max Lotstein is hosting an EDM dance party on April 13 and it’s open to everyone. Some of us are going and so should you!
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Also coming up: Cuppa Clothing Swap (April 5), PowerPoint Party No. 25 (April 5).
Nostalgia
Do you remember how wonderfully unproductive Sunday was? How every time we tried to start on Paperwork someone new showed up to hug?
The long and good talk about talking?
The salsa class? How we spun, some with delight and others with terror? How we all got better? The Avanti run afterward, with good news and then bad news of arepas?
The Monday with a lisping Dan? How unfair the word “lisp” is to people with lisps? Alex finally getting to talk to Justin about board games?
Do you remember that hour-long 10-minute walk? How we found that alley, that we ran into Sarah outside, that we stood in the longest shortest line?
The impromptu salsa refresher? Livvy watching comically skillful salsa videos?
How Mike came by “just to see if anyone wanted to get a sandwich”? How he talked about feeling like a stray dog wandering in, and we talked about metaphors of water while we searched for food? How we all ate together?
What about our Severance catchup while Paperwork was going out? Do you remember how everyone sighed when we talked about “that” episode? The spoiler-free theory break at intermission? The pile on the couch? The coining of the term “Paperfolk?”
Do you remember setting up for Glint? Mason helping with sound-check by sitting directly in front of the speaker? That everyone kept whispering “secrets?” How we finally met the one person who saw the only Instagram ad we ever posted? Do you remember all those carefully crafted stories? How we sang, laughed in horror, and sat silently? How it was our biggest Glint yet?
Or afterward, how intentional Livvy was about burning the effigies, lest with time they be imbued even more strongly with the magic of sentiment, making them harder to discard? How we each said a word of thanks to them? How, in the end, they couldn’t catch on fire?
While meanwhile, in the darkened room, Mason demoed his portable projector setup and Jim and I tried our best to adjust The WiFi?
Do you remember the lunch drive to Rise & Shine? Livvy talking about her new work project while Mark donned double glasses?
The afternoon walk, when Justin waved at a squirrel? That we came across that giant cactus, and passed so many budding trees?
The worknight I wasn’t there for? That you didn’t get five stars, and that it was okay? How you assured each other that it was okay because there were only four of you?
Or the lunch that started with just us and Justin? That we waited forever for pizza to be delivered? That Mike and José showed up, and then Michelle and Ashley? And then the pizza? That we talked about vacations and beauty?
Do you remember the walk that I ran to catch up to? How I appeared, out of breath, from around a corner? How afterward we sat on the steps and talked about talking, and ran into Marcia and John and then talked about oregano oil and deporting Elon and the Bernie rally to come?
Or Allyson’s Art Night? How soft and warm it was in that lamp-lit room? How many of us were working on flowers?
The news of Justin’s news? How we all clapped and then shook his hand in an orderly line? How Livvy was strangely hug-averse when she came in, and we learned that it was because she was hiding congratulatory flowers in her coat?
How that was also the day of Kayleigh’s second drop-in? Rebekah’s and Jessica‘s first day? The perfect thirteen-person Friday vibes? The first springtime sunny walk to lunch? How we narrated our actions throughout? The speculation of what “Spare Change” could even be? The Cookie Communion™? The suggestion of a members mandatory Track & Field day?
Justin’s request for a collective 3:30 “F@*K!” (that he quickly clarified was verbal)?
How we all said bye to Rebekah in unison?
How Michelle put a piece of paper on the ground and went to get a tape measure, and Justin, quickly and helpfully, said, “8.5 by 11!”?
The return of Drew and River?
How, as the day wrapped up, when asked for a speech, Justin said “We’ll see.”?
The walk to the rally with Marcia? How alive the city felt? That we tried to meet up with friends and couldn’t? That after walking for a very, very long time, we still never saw the end of the line to get in?
Do you remember Lizzie’s 27th birthday? The museum plot? All the sneaky hurrying (but not rushing) in birthday hats? How Dan led us, acting like something between a Navy SEAL and an actual seal? The ten minute window to get to 6th floor of the Martin building? Our whispered rendition of Happy Birthday? How a little later, the whole museum café sang to her, and we made her a codex?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
At Glint (our biggest yet! with almost 40 people!): Livvy told of spreading a flattering secret; Mark disclosed a hard-to-believe and possibly-out-of-date trick; Jessica admitted a truth she kept from herself; Jim recalled “praying” in the back of a car; Mary Ann talked about being underdressed; Ivan described a perfectly-laid, too-secret plan; Dan reflected on learning the hidden meaning behind his high school popularity; and Allyson shared a secret she carried.
At Worknight: Madison assembled a collage for a friend; Mark completed a cover letter and an app proposal; Alex picked shelves, logged nutrition, asked Jim for a drill, and implemented a service level layer with local testing; and Livvy drew one picture.
We have a time clock. Partially because, hey, we’re a Company! And mostly because we love having a physical record of (almost) everyone who’s been in the space. People punch in and out when they visit. At the end of each month, we stack up all the cards by visit count in the Fibonacci sequence. Here’s the data for February:
1 visit: 56 people
2 visits: 15 people
3–4 visits: 7 people
5–7 visits: 11 people
8–12 visits: 4 people
13–20 visits: 5 people
21+ visits: 3 peopleTotal people: 101
People who came more than once: 45Other notes:
Notable moves:
Tricia entering strong at 3+
Sam A. moved up to 5+
Beth and Alex moved up to 8+
Lizzie moved up to 13+Other than December 2024 (which was exceptional for party reasons), this is the highest number of people who came more than once in the month (45) so far.
Note: We don’t generally record visitors to Cuppa if they are only stopping in for Cuppa. Many people came through the space that are not represented here!
Inevitably: incomplete and messy 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 cowritten by Ivan and Dan (with moral support and fact-checking by Michelle) and 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, Jessica P., and our newest members, Jessica S. and Ashley.
