Thursday 17 November 2011

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening

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David Rees used to be a political cartoonist. He gave that career up to pursue his dreams. David loves #2 pencils and pencil sharpeners, and considers it a privilege to sharpen pencils for friends and strangers. In New York's Hudson River Valley, he still practices the age-old art of manual pencil sharpening.
Is this a joke? If you start a pencil-sharpening business, you can expect to hear this question a lot. The short answer? No, this is not a joke. You pay David Rees money and he sharpens your pencils. If you think it's a joke, why don't you poke yourself with your newly sharpened pencil? Or better yet, don't - because it'll really hurt. In fact, every pencil David Rees sharpens is shipped with a signed and dated certificate authenticating that it is now a dangerous object.

(via Everlating Blort)

2 comment(s):

Chris Johnston said...

Y'know, it's a sad sign of the times that I can't tell if this is a joke or not.

soubriquet said...

It's a joke, but a very elabotrate one.

The thing is, as any real pencil user will attest, that pencil sharpening needs to be done continuously, as you work. Unless you're receiving about 300 pencils a week from this guy, and shipping the same back, there's no 'point' in using him at all.

But if you want a pencil, with a certificate of sharpness, and a little bag of its shavings, to put in a glass cabinet as a conversation-piece, then he's your man.