SOL 2: Bamboo Pens

I walk over to the back room, passing chattering hubs of procrastination in my hurry to get newspaper. Walking into Max's room, I quickly locate the newspaper, grab a sheet, and hurry back to my desk. I sigh as I pass my dead bamboo plant, thinking of how much effort I expended trying to save it, just for it to die over winter break. Passing Linda's desk, I grab an X-Acto knife (also known as The Sword of Exact Zero in the Lego Movie). Returning to my desk, I consider how to cut the bamboo as to get the most pens out of it. I settle on the idea of cutting the section of wood that I will be working with first off the stalk. Using my Easy Cutters, I snip off a short section of stalk about 8 inches long. I examine the stalk, noting that it has a short  inter-joint area on the bottom and a longer section on the top. I start carving the first pen by slicing off a diagonal section on the end, leaving the moist interior exposed. The interior is an glossy white color, similar to the color of milk. I slowly whittle the exposed end of the pen down to a point, creating a area for the ink to drain out of when writing. I set the pen down, and slice a slit through the wall of the point, creating a tiny path for the ink to drain out of when I write. The wood splits a little bit on the side of the tip, which annoys me. After a couple minutes of trying to figure out what to do, I realize that I can just shave off part of the point and make the slit in the middle of the pen. Feeling stupid the whole time, I do this and proceed to the next and hardest part. Drilling a .2 millimeter diameter hole at the end of the slit. Setting the bamboo down, I take my X-Acto knife and carefully slice out the ridiculously small hole. I smile to myself, satisfied that my first bamboo pen is finished.

-SGC