I have a combination of cheap and good quality pencil sharpeners. The former I’ve bought from Dollar Tree and Target and the latter from the KUM brand. I also have a Bostitch hand crank version I bought for less than ten dollars from Facebook Marketplace. Despite the quality they all have one thing in common.
Whenever I sharpen my pencils the half is sharpened longer than the other. I have to fine tune to make sure the tips are even. However, the main risk was that I shave off a good chunk of graphite and it doesn’t take too long to resharpen again after writing a few sentences.
So the best solution was to buy a pocketknife and shave my pencils the good old fashioned way. I wanted a Made in the USA knife within my budget and found A.G. Russell Knives. I bought the CaseXX Sod Buster black folding knife for $44 and the CRKT Stokes sharpener for $16. The knife has a 3-5/8” blade and is 4-5/8” when closed. The sharpener is the size of a flashdrive that also has a large key ring, bottle opener, and seatbelt cutter.
After opening both packages I found the first dull pencil I could find and followed instructions from the book How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees. Not too shabby. So instead of buying disposable pencil sharpeners buy a good quality pocketknife and take good care of it.
Just don’t bring it at school, the courthouse, or airports.
If someone pointed a gun to my head and demanded I choose between giving up coffee or my obsession with red notebooks, I’d take the bullet. When you have a family, budgeting money is necessary. At the end of last month there was enough money for either two items.
It’s either two pounds of coffee or the red Zequenz Classic 360 Signature Series A6 Notepad 128 sheets/256 pages. So I waited until the next month to choose both, the right answer. I’ll give you more details when I finished my other notebooks.
In the meantime, I have three cold brew makers I need refilling.
Here it is! In my hands, the proof copy for The Package Trilogy. Looks and smells good. Going to read through it to make sure it looks good. I should make it public this Friday.
Last week I ordered my proof copy of The Package Trilogy from Lulu.com. I’m still waiting. As of this writing, it’s in North Las Vegas. I wished I chose a more expedient mailing service but I would have to pay way more. The waiting is killing me. I want to make sure the book looks good before making it public.
My designer said he’s almost done with two cover variations for me. I can’t wait to see them. So through the weekend and next week I’ll focus on getting the paperback done. If I don’t post anything for next Tuesday and Thursday this is the reason. If things go well you’ll see the paperback out by the end of this month.
My acquaintance Alan (@legendofalan) at Substack posted a writing exercise.
Bleeding feet
Burning eyes
Broken shackles
Consider the exercise if you want. Here is what I wrote.
The pencil sits on the table. Yearning to be used. So is the piece of paper next to it. Your thoughts want to burst out but is restrained by not others, but your own worries, blocks, and the automatic response of self-censoring.
But you pick up the pencil anyways. You move your hand closer to the paper. Broken shackles the second the two writing tools touch. That first line scratching, then another, and another. Finally, those lines form a coherent message.
My wife, older son, and I had the chance to go last Friday. Younger one had to stay with my in-laws because he was sick. While parking was expensive, that and my wife’s ticket was the only thing I had to pay. Children under 6 and veterans go for free. Yippee!
The first thing we did was get the large corndogs and a strawberry funnel cake. Good as usual. Expensive, but it’s not like we get those every day. Next, we explored the art and looked at the small animals and barnyard ones. Got to see a sheep milking demonstration.
There are two large buildings for shopping along with smaller shopping booths. My wife wanted to buy stickers but there wasn’t a vendor for them. I wanted to buy everything but I wanted to stay within a budget. Of course there are rides and games but we usually don’t do those. Maybe when the kids are older.
While the weather wasn’t too bad I prefer going to the fair at night. There’s a different vibe that I enjoy. One of these days I’ll go there at night with my wife.
Now that the county fair is closed until next year I can’t wait to go there again. If you’re in the Pleasanton, California area during the summer, check out the county fair. You won’t be disappointed.
It’s my older son’s last day of summer school and it’s a month of summer break until he starts again sometime in August. I’m glad he’s going to enjoy it. But I know it’s extra work for me.
The fun part is we’ll be going to a few places for all of us to enjoy and spending some quality family time. The drawback is that I won’t be able to write as much. But as a field writer I’ll adapt to my situation.
So if I’m not posting as much for July and August I apologize in advanced. Thank you for your patience and your support.
