What happened to wood pencils?!

It took me a while to figure it out, but Noah, my 6yr old identified it immediately.

Distracting background ... The subject is worthy of a closer crop and less dof.

you know what? I really do like people who can find ordinary every day objects and make them into an interesting photography subject. You turned a normal pencil that most people would overlook into a cool photo. Most people will pick apart your photo, but i think you have a good eye. If you thought to snap off a frame of this ordinary object, then that tells me your brain is working the right way....

Way cool, VERY original, took a while to figure out what it was.

cool and creative! you ought to reshoot this with some traditional pencil props - eraser(rubber), hand-crank sharpener, maybe some sidelighting, chalk, chalk eraser, chalkboard, etc. or even other similar shapes made out of different materials - either contrasting or complementing themes.

Very creative. Took a bit to figure out what it was in the thumbnail. The background, unfortunately has got to go

I think the background offers an interesting contrast to the subject. In line with the title of the photo, with the ever advancing technology we have, when's the last time we've slowed down to use our basic resources? Jumping on the computer has become second nature while the simple use of automechanics on plain white paper is somehow foreign and less sufficient. This picture represents a good theme to me.

This is the result of sharpening a pencil with a small hand sharpen.

The pencils is not made of wood. I'm not sure what the material is.