Volume 1, Issue 46 | IKEA Effect
Last Sunday, while Dan and I worked on the one of the longer issues of Paperwork we’ve ever put out, Livvy and Norton assembled a new IKEA bookcase.
It was a very long day for all of us, and partway through all the sorting and measuring and hammering and assembling, Norton said “we’re going to really love this bookcase!”
A nod, of course, to the aptly named ‘IKEA Effect’: the idea that participating in the making of a thing, even partially, drastically increases your estimation of its value.
When Livvy, Norton, and I started The Company almost a year ago, our scrappiness wasn’t really intended as a feature—it was just the nature of self-funding a thing without having that many funds. It was necessity, not intention. We pillaged our own apartments to help furnish this place—including a bookcase we would later come to miss. And so many friends helped move furniture and plants and assemble chairs and desks. And all this happened not because we thought that was an better way to get this community started, but because that was the only way this place could get started. They were just things we had to do to make this idea become a reality.
And we all keep helping because it turns out that’s the only way to keep this idea going.
PowerPoint Parties and Glint and In the Making are really just Ready-To-Assemble events. Discussions groups and watch parties and workshops exist because some of us make them. And this kind of culture we have here—where people are friendly and kind and earnest and supportive; where people clean bathrooms and water plants and take tickets and set up and tear down; where people go looking for a stolen sign and then pitch in when it can’t be found—this is something all of us put together ourselves.
There are some manufacturing flaws. The columns are warped. We’ve made some custom modifications, and might have damaged a few things in the process. The wood color doesn’t match anything else. There’s a lot we can improve.
It’s a perfect bookcase.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Moonlight Report, Monday, April 28
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.
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, April 30
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.
Knife Sharpening Workshop, Thursday, May 1
Elijah—knife-maker, PowerPoint Presenter, and member of the Company—will teach us how to sharpen our knives! Bring in your dull blades and leave with sharp ones.
Elijah will cover how to hold the knife when sharpening and how to tell when you're done.
Perhaps bring some less important knives to practice on, as well as some knives you actually want sharp.
We’ve had one of these before and it was excellent. It’s a great experience to be able to cut through a sheet of paper held aloft.
Sold out, but we’ve got a waiting list.
$20, or $10 for members (for supplies!).
Be the sharpest tool in the shed →
PowerPoint Party No. 26, Saturday, May 3
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 Hoyas, play history, and the worst trend in modern cars. 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.
Note: Cuppa will NOT be open during this event! I made a copy-paste mistake last week! Do not expect delicious warm drinks and treats! But come get a cuppa at Cuppa Friday–Sunday mornings (or at a Glint!).
Future Weeks:
Yoga with Dan, Sunday, May 4
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.
Survival Scouts Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, May 6
Hosted by Lexi, Survival Scouts is our newest club, where we imagine and prepare for possible futures, together.
It’s 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.
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Also coming up: Glint: Last (May 13), Yearbook Party (TBD).
Nostalgia
Remembered by Ivan and Livvy
Do you remember the despair of Paperwork? Culling down from thousands of photos? How we wrote and edited to the soundtrack of Livvy and Norton loudly assembling our new bookcases? How Dan kept calling Livvy Lizzie and thought maybe we’d not remember this but I immediately added it into Nostalgia? How we kept switching stations to get the issue done?
How it came up that Norton had spent half an hour measuring something to make sure something that no one would see would line up perfectly? How I observed that this is the kind of nonsense that doesn’t matter to anyone except the people who matter most?
Do you remember the book club about The Dispossessed? How we discussed anarchy and propertarianism and philosophy? How happy Livvy was that Evan finally came by? How Trevr explained physics with an empty cup?
Do you remember the chess games? The appearance of Emily? That 8-person lunch, where Ben said “the rapper has a man” and we started a new Discord channel to keep track of all the phrases said around here that make absolutely no sense out of context? How the rule is that you can’t explain them?
The additional chess games?
How Mike came by to eat a sandwich?
Or the offsite to Debbie Millman’s talk? How we were too enthralled to remember to take any group photos?
Do you remember the big walk? How we ran into Livvy’s coworker? (He later told someone else he ran into us on patrol.) The setup for In The Making? The surprise of puzzle data and the history of charcoal drawings and couches and torts?
Do you remember lunch on Friday, when we finally pulled a question card again and it asked us “What’s the best evening you’ve ever had?” How we branched out into the best foods, and then into how Justin and Halie met, and that some of us got to see the super secret special Wikipedia page? How when Justin explained his weekend plans, Halie called him a charitable hunk?
Do you remember the moment that we all leapt up from the lunch table to scour the neighborhood, looking in all the alleys and dumpsters for the missing Cuppa sign? How we tried to narrow down the time of theft, and fumed about who would do such a thing? Brainstorming new sign material? Swarming to purchase too much coffee to make up for the lost business? How, thanks to friends and Venmo, a new sign was already paid for?
Do you remember the second round of bookshelf installation? Clearing everything off the old one, writing names on things, aligning shelves, figuring out that the printer and the ukulele fit just perfectly?
And that night, that a crowd of us went to see Perfect Arrangement because Madison was the Assistant Director? How Halie came by just for the pre-play hangout? How Lexi kept trying to find someone to talk with about Fellow Travelers, and found the play’s Director? How the cast loved having us in the audience? How in the second half we cried and cried and cried, and afterwards, you came to console us?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
Documented by Ivan
We passed our fire inspection! Thanks to Jim for his help in making us compliant.
We have assembled a new (perfect) book case! Thanks to Norton and Livvy for doing so much of the work on that, and to Alex for helping modify it, and future thanks to Jim for helping us fix it.
We have 3 new Company Member profiles on the site! Meet Lizzie, Ben, and Mike.
At In The Making: Brien demoed a growing music project, Adam shared the evolution of his photography, Gabby walked us through puzzling data, Ivan worked on a font, Max showed the process of designing a couch, and Lee gave a high level overview of a large scale project.
We’ve scheduled out most of our events through the end of the year and are slowly adding them to the website. You can see all of them in the public Google calendar.
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.
Photos
Captions by Ivan
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This issue of Paperwork was written by Ivan and Livvy, and shot by Ivan, Lizzie, Livvy, and Michelle. Photo selection and editing by Ivan and Norton. This issue, and The Company itself, was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew, Justin, Mason, Lexi, José, Mary Ann B., Trevr, Allyson, Lizzie, Madison, Melissa, Elijah, Dan, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Ben L., Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Brynn, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Mary Ann T., Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Ashley, Mike, and Ben T..
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.
😘