Ticonderoga #2 yellow pencil

[michael clubb]

  I think most of us used this pencil since we drew our first squiggely line on a piece of paper. I'm making notes for an article/essay and I'm hoping that all of you will tell me about your rememberances.

For example, I remember in grade school that all the smart kids (usually girls) had very sharp pencils at the start of each class while the rest of us had dull little nubby pencils. Some worn down to just a couple inches in length and an eraser worn down to the metal.

So, what are your memories? Did you write your first love note with a yellow pencil? ETC.

[Quinn]

I still write with a Dixon Ticonderoga pencil :D

I have a bit of artist in me... Having a pencil at hand makes for an easier impromptu drawing...

I remember the magic trick of turning the pencil into rubber.
And, the teeth marks from chewing on it.
I would stick it behind my ear.
I used it to keep my hair bun in place.

[michael clubb]

good stuff quinn. Remember being small and discovering that if you held the pencil amost flat that you could use the side of the lead to make fantastic shadeing. The first time I tried that I thought I was a real artist! And, I too still use the #2 pencil. In fact, I have a cup with about 20 feshly sharpened pencils in it that I use daily. I believe it to be It one of the few perfect tools ever made.

[Quinn]

You know what else I like?
The sound that the pencil makes on the paper.

( Do you think that gives me automatic entry into nerds-r-us ? )

[michael clubb]

I never noticed the sound. Yep, you are defitely a nerd with excellent hearing.

[Slim]

I rarely had Ticonderoga's, because Mom bought the school supplies and there was always a cheaper brand.  We were required to have #2's because the lead was firm.  I would always pull the erasers out.  It was easy to do, but we took it as a challenge.  Then we'd have to steal someones bulky add-on eraser, which we'd quickly lose or have stolen from us.  I like my pencil a little dull so that I could press down and make a darker mark.

"nubby"? "a couple of inches"? "firm"?   Are you sure we're talking about pencils here?  Quinn likes to stick hers behind her ear.  I love it!

[Quinn]

""nubby"? "a couple of inches"? "firm"?   Are you sure we're talking about pencils here?  Quinn likes to stick hers behind her ear.  I love it!"



Hahaha

[michael clubb]

If that rings a bell with you, you have been hanging out with wrong person!

[michael clubb]

Poor thing, no tidonderoga's slim?  Yeah, those eraser that you put on the end of the pencil?  Mine always seemed to split at the base and fall off never to be seen again. And I hated those those block erasers but once again, all the smart kids had them and never seemed to lose them. They were so organized.

[Stir Young]

I use pencils for work, usually a cheapo knockoff from the grocery store.  These Academix No. 2s are no Toconderogas, I'm here to say.

Note to self:  Stop in, and buy yerself some good pencils the next time you go by an office supply store, ya Dummy!!  

[Quinn]

Don't forget a pencil sharpener.

[michael clubb]

I liked those hand cranked sharpeners that were either mounted on the wall or screwed onto the teachers desk. Now I use an electric. I'm not even sure if they still make the hand cranked variety. Another good product that was still useful after years of use.

 

[Stir Young]

Yes, I have a good old hand cranked variety, mounted just inside my hall closet.  At work we have no sharpener, and in most of the public offices I frequent in the course of work, there will be found electric sharpeners, none of which sharpen anywhere near as well as my crank variety at home.  I try to remember to have all my pencils sharpened before I head for work.  Sometimes I forget, but in the grand scheme of things, the resulting inconvenience is nothing that would cause me undue grief.  It seems there are always bigger issues to wrestle with.