From a satisfied customer:

Hello David — I just wanted to let you know that I have received the pencils, and I couldn’t be happier. I work at a design studio amongst many talented artists who are also obsessive sketchers, so you can imagine that the pencils went over fantastically well.

Thank you again, both for the work and for the presentation. I don’t know if I can bring myself to use mine!

(This customer sent me ten Palomino Blackwing pencils for sharpening. It was a pleasure to sharpen such fine writing implements.)

In related news, my records indicate that I have sharpened my 250th pencil … will I pass the 300-pencil mark??? If I do I will hold a big party and sell shares in my business.

The cruise was great! Already a shoo-in for BEST OF 2011: CRUISES.

One highlight was this colossal performance by ace snorkeler John Roderick:

The other fun thing was when a bunch of us nerds stormed the ship’s micro-disco and completely tore it apart on the dance floor to this song.

Also, I learned how to play Settlers of Catan, one of the biggest, most famous nerd games! It was fun. Basically you buy land and build houses and trade goats for rocks. I also played Apples to Apples, a famous extreme-metal band.

Also Mike Phirman killed. People gave him a standing ovation when he entered the dining room later that evening.

Lots of other fun things happened: I sat in a hot tub wearing sunglasses just like in the movies; I saw fish living underwater as if that was the most natural thing in the world; I ate mad salad bars (seriously, one day I went buck wild and almost ate the entire salad bar); I even bumped into my arch-nemesis The Spoiler, that old killjoy.

All in all, a great success. Congratulations to Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Armand, Liz, and everyone else who worked so hard to rock everyone’s socks off into the ocean.

This is the last pencil I sharpened on JoCo Cruise Crazy. The waiter was intrigued. He said I should try Eberhard Faber’s Mongol pencils (a leading brand in the Philippines).

(Photo by RangerRick)

Messages like this are the reason I’m glad I’m in the artisanal pencil sharpening business:

I recently ordered one of your artisanally sharpened pencils as a Christmas gift for a friend. The pencil she received had a certified sharpness of 8/10. May I be blunt with you (as blunt as your pencils are sharp)? I expected craftsmanship, but not to such a fine degree. You may expect my continued patronage in the future.

“You may expect my continued patronage in the future.” These words are music to an artisan’s ears.

Don’t worry guys, more 2010 Top Ten Lists are coming soon. I’m working on some super-hot lists! If there’s a category you’re interested in, let me know. I have access to lots of data from which to compile my wonderful lists.

Thanks to reader JK for sending along this inspirational video.

In 2011, let us all pledge to manifest the spirit of this Chinese hurdler:

Kind reader AF chimes in on the parlor game that’s sweeping America:

It turns out that “Geek Game or Extreme-Metal Band” is one of those jokes that is going to stick with me every time I see a new board game. I’ve already spent 20 minutes working my way through the top 200 games on boardgamegeek.com chuckling about which ones would make great metal band names.

Turns out that two I thought were contenders, “Pandemic” and “Ra”, are already taken by metal bands … So if you need any trick questions for your quiz – there you go. Actually, knowing what I know of board game geeks, I kind of doubt you’re hearing this for the first time.

I’m going to design a card game called SUNN 0))). It’ll be like UNO, but slower.

Context here.

More here.