Behold: THE PENCIL (Blog #3)

So, the pencil is pretty great.  And it really comes in handy.  I mean, who invented the pencil?  Because they're brilliant and should get a million dollars every time one is used.

Pencils were invented in the 1500's.  Legend has it that "a violent storm in the Borrowdale area of Cumberland led to trees being uprooted and the discovery of a strange black material underneath. This material turned out to be graphite, and shepherds began using it to mark their sheep". Yeah, that's awesome.

As we all know, pencils are made by having the lead or whatever sandwiched between, or engulfed by, wood.  We sharpen it, and as the lead goes down, we resharpen it.  Pretty simple.  But here's the downside: as you sharpen it, the pencil gets smaller and smaller until it's basically a stub and completely useless.  The other downside? Every time you sharpen it, the lead is really super pointy and either stabs you, or pokes holes in your paper, or both.

But then they created the mechanical pencil.  And the world changed.  Because now you don't have to sharpen them!  All you have to do is click the top and the lead is magically reloaded! Brilliant!  Until your little lead canister is empty and you have to refill it.  But make sure you bought the right size lead. Or else you're in trouble.

So, yeah. I love pencils. Why do I continue using the pencil?  Well, because I have things to write down.  But I can say that I will always prefer the pencil to the pen.

It's hard to say what would make a pencil easier to use.  Is there a way to invent a self-loading pencil?  So we never have to click or sharpen again?

Actually you know what would be better?  A pencil with a never ending eraser.  Because when those erasers disappear, I get so mad.  You have a perfectly good writing utensil, but no eraser.  And if it's a mechanical pencil, don't even think about trying to get more lead in there because that stub of an eraser is not going to move.

Even better, make a pencil that allows left handers to write without getting lead smudges all over them. I don't know if that's possible, but I think half the population would be really pleased.

I recently found out about a pencil being made that can be planted once you finish with it.  It has a seed inside of it, so when it gets down to the useless stub, you just put it in soil, water it, and it sprouts.  You can get it in herbs, veggies, flowers, all sorts of things.  I thought that was pretty awesome.

Everyone holds a pencil differently.  There is a supposed "correct" way to hold it, but I don't think anyone follows that.  That's why all of our handwriting is so different; because everyone handles the pencil differently.  But, I was watching my friend Jessi write the other day, and she's left handed, but she holds her pencil in such a bizarre way.  Her entire arm wraps around the paper and she writes sideways.  Make a pencil that makes it less likely for her shoulder to dislocate.

Ah, the pencil. Gotta love it.


"Pencil Museum." Pencil Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/>.
"When This Pencil Becomes Too Short, Plant It to Grow Herbs - DesignTAXI.com."When This Pencil Becomes Too Short, Plant It to Grow Herbs - DesignTAXI.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://designtaxi.com/news/353386/When-This-Pencil-Becomes-Too-Short-Plant-It-to-Grow-Herbs/>.