The New York Times Magazine recently published a short photo essay about the manufacturing process of pencils.  Don’t let the seemingly technical title, Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories, fool you – the photos and prose are a love letter to one of our oldest and most versatile tools.  At first glance, the photography will grab your attention and you might be tempted to skim through the text.  While doing so, you may come across a few phrases that convince you to go back to the beginning and savor the words.  For more tributes from artists and writers, visit the comments sections (use the “Readers Picks” option for some of the best).  You may never look at a pencil the same way again.