With all due respect to the Swiss mechanical pencil industry

Oops. When I waxed prosaic about my favorite 5 here I made a comment about it not being "some $50 contraption made in Switzerland". Forgive me Dave, you have shown me the light of just how cool Swiss pencils can be. I still can't afford them, but it's nice to know they exist for that day in the distant future when I am independently wealthy.

Meet Mr. Pencil (mechanical, that is)

The blog name Dave's Mechanical Pencils says it all. This engineer (when you see the quality of his product reviews, it will be obvious that he's being honest about his profession) from New Zealand should be your first stop if you're looking to learn about mechanicals.

The only downside to his site? He doesn't (yet?) have a review of my beloved Zebra M-301 0.5mm :)

Meet Mr. Pencil (wooden, that is)

I think I've discovered the man who should be named Guinness Book of World Record's "Smartest Wooden Pencil Guy In The World" - Mr. Charles Berolzheimer, President of California Cedar Products Company.

This man has:

• A cool Squiddo lens called Pencil World
• A cool blog called Timberlines
• An E-Bay store called Pencil World Creativity Store

Where did I first hear about this man? A cool blog called Paper Notes. Check it out.

This guy seems to live, if not not on then certainly within shouting distance of, the nexus of all wooden pencil knowledge. His love for the industry and the product is evident in everything he writes. If you're interested in wooden pencils, be sure to see what this man has to say.

Pencil Haiku #10

Slender graphite child
springs forth from cedar parent
Like leaves from a tree