And finally... the last part....

Lastly, the pencil.
4) Faber-Castell's Grip 2001 (I think that's what it's called). Again no link.
You'd think there is no improving on the classic pink eraser, yellow #2 pencil (except those cedar ones which smell so great when you sharpen them). Well here's something quite innovative (I think). An artists-quality pencil with a built-in grip that you can sharpen. This pencil is silver and has little (about 1-mm) dots along the length of it that are rubberized. This and the ergonomic triangular shape makes it really really comfortable to hold. And the textured dots are quite striking -- although they don't get in the way at all when sharpening. Like any real artist's pencil there's no eraser at the end. They cost as much as a box of regular art store pencils and are well worth getting. Now if they only came in cedar...

--C.