Anyone care for a No.2?

Things to do with your pencil.

By Andy Lemiere

1. Pencil behind your ear. A classic. Whomever invented this is probably a millionaire.





2. Pencil in your pocket. (No, I'm just happy to see you!) No protector required.





3. Pencil in your hat. My preferred method, especially for coaching.





4. Pencil pinch between your nose and top lip. I do this a lot in meetings to look interested, or uninterested.





5. Pencil twirling. Back in 95' there was an exchange student from Thailand at Kelso named Nate. He was AMAZING at this and he could do it in his sleep. I will never forget Nate Kamploplatanaa, or whatever your name is.





6. Pencil drumming. I do this frequently, but hate it when others do it - like in class.





7. Test taking. Can't take a standardized test w/o a yellow No.2.





8. Pencil breaking. A universal sign of frustration is the snapping of a pencil.


9. And the classic Magic Pencil - place pencil in between thumb and index finger and wave up and down giving the appearance that the pencil is made of rubber. (special thanks to Mills for reminding me of that one)

• The first people who started numbering pencils (#1-4 on the hardness of the graphite) was Henry David Thoreau and his dad. They made pencils.





• The word "rubber" actually came from eraser tips - because you rub it on paper.





• The metal connector of eraser and pencil has a name: ferrule. It's a combination of 2 Latin words meaning small iron bracelet.





• It's been a few hundred years since pencils used actual lead.

You are very welcome.