Saturday, April 18, 2020

A to Z Joy: Pencils

Pencil PNG image

Geeky writer alert: I love pencils! I don't mind a mechanical pencil in a pinch, but my favorites are the traditional yellow #2 pencils. Sharpened with a manual sharpener, if possible. I just love the feel of pencil on paper, but, having said that, I'm not sure I could write an entire novel that way. Kudos to anyone who can and does!

Fun pencil trivia:
  • Henry David Thoreau's father owned a pencil-making business near Boston, and, yes Walden was written in pencil;
  • The word pencil comes from the penicillus, which means little tail;
  • An average pencil can draw a line 35 miles long;
  • The modern pencil dates back to the year 1565;
  • The mechanical pencil was patented in 1822; and
  • Pencils were among the standard equipment issued to Union soldiers during the American Civil War.
For more pencil fun, take this TED Pencil Quiz.

Stay sharp, everyone!


12 comments:

  1. Great pencil trivia! I confess, I do like mechanical pencils, too, though.
    Black and White (Words and Pictures)

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    1. I admit, it is pretty convenient to have a fine, sharp point always at the ready!

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  2. Love the pencil trivia! I'm partial to mechanical pencils and I tend to do my writing brainstorming with pencil on paper . . . and grocery lists, too :)

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    1. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who still writes grocery lists on paper!

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    2. Oh yes, it's a must. I have to paperclip my coupons to something, right?

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  3. I always have a stash of sharpened pencils at the ready. Weekends In Maine

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    1. It's good to be prepared! There's nothing worse than a broken pencil point and no replacement!

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  4. When I was a child, my dear wish was to own a box of 72 Derwent colouring pencils. They did a beautiful job, and came in so many different colours, pretty much EVERY child wanted them. But they were expensive. You could buy them individually at the newsagent, so I saved up to buy one at a time. I never did get the 72 colours, though.

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    1. I'm so glad they were available individually! I wouldn't have been able to buy a whole box, either, but if one could at least acquire a few favorite colors... :-)

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  5. Those yellow #2 pencils are an American and Canadian thing. We don't have them here. The most common pencil colour here is red and black.

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    1. I had no idea. That's so interesting! I wonder how the yellow thing came about...?

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