pencils

I was sitting here, chewing my pencil, conscious that I'd not added anything to this list for a while, wondering what I should add. Then it struck me - pencils. They're good. They're ordinary. They're probably even interesting, I remember being interested by the pencil museum in Keswick. And by Henry Petroski's book, which I've got somewhere. And I also remember reading about the discontinuation of the Blackwing, apparently the best pencil ever, only now available on ebay. Maybe I could order one from there and write about how good it felt to write with it. But when I googled 'best pencil in the world' looking for Blackwing info I discovered that there's a rival claimant for the ultimate pencil title - the Dixon Ticonderoga #2.

So now, here's a real mission. Get them both and have a pencil off. I'm going to enjoy this. Plus I'm delighted by all the brilliant pencil resources out there. Doug Martin has some brilliant stuff here (including the blackwing picture above). And the wikipedia pencil section is fascinating.

Comments

[Paul Wilson]

A pencil off - that sounds great. It reminds me of "the man who ate everthing" and his search for the perfect glass of water. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375702024/103-6963554-9668600?v=glance&n=283155