Artisanal pencil sharpening

That is incredible.... And he does it without any sort of magnifying glass. Wow.

Yes, but not only is the performance art version funnier, but I might get a pencil out of it.

Of course, knowing me I will promptly break the pencil and then I'll be heartbroken.

What I need to do is go into business selling inert-gas-filled hand-blown glass ampules to store your artisanally-sharpened pencil in, so that it retains its sharpness until long after you are dead. I am an authentic solid state physicist with an authentic lab coat and goggles, after all, so I have ample qualifications in scientific pencil preservation.

The image with the yellow pencils shows really badly sharpened pencils IMO. I hand sharpen pencils (with compacted ceramic glazes in place of "lead") with a craft knife and get a better tip than that.

No, I'm not even joking.

What I loved so much about this is that although it is very much tongue-in-cheek, I think it is a viable "pet rock" type of product offering. Specially to those slightly older folks who have gone through a few trees worth of pencils.

The tube of lubricant I bought this summer for a lock said that it contained graphite, which is known to the state of California to be a carcinogen. I think that there should be points awarded for the most serious sounding post to the original story pointing out the dangers of our encouraging this sort of activity.