Word: pencilings
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Bill Henderson has been in control of his computer-free life for some time now, waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. He presides over the Lead Pencil Club in Wainscott, New York, an organization that eschews high technology, especially E-mail, faxes and anything even remotely wired. Their motto: "What's the hurry...
...quite fathom they've become the hottest commodity to emerge from the Middle Ages since Gregorian chant. Though their scary Gothic ancestors patrolled the cathedrals of Europe, serving double duty as protectors from evil and divertors of rainwater, today's gargoyles are more likely to turn up as tchotchkes--pencil holders, bookends, and the like. They've also gone edible, in the form of Franco-American canned pasta (with and without meatballs...
...count in my last week's English 178x section yielded the following results: four ball-pointers, seven roller-ball-users and a lone pencil person. Hmmm. Is the roller-ball phenomenon a throwback from days of fountain pen prevalence? Perhaps proud owners cherish their Pilot Precises and their UniBall Deluxes for their decisive, permanent ink or for the little windows through which they can watch the ink go down and think, "boy, I sure write a lot!" The Harvard humanities notetaker comes to adore the flowing pages upon pages of intellectual-looking lecture notes...
What about pencils? Who still uses them? They can't write in blue, or black. They can't look decisive or bold. They remind us of high school math class. Ahh, but here's the one, obvious beauty of a pencil: graphite disappears with a little help from that wonder of physics, friction. Pencils at Harvard are reserved for either those who aren't vain enough to care about permanence or for taking exams, where we would rather not have our confused hieroglyphics remembered. Pencil use has its hierarchy, though: note the dichotomy between integral-calculators, who use mechanical pencils...
...knows what effect writing utensils have on your prose? Do you was creative with your Mont Blanc? Does a Bic make you ditzy? Do you only write in pencil when you draw on the Lamont classroom desks? Choosing the right weapon might be the most important academic decision you make in college, so take heed. Social theorists and psychology concentrators, pay attention. There's a thesis out there waiting to be written...