Q: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Someone just paid David Rees, of Beacon, N.Y., $35 to sharpen a pencil. 
  
 "I think people think: 'Wow, I can't believe he actually did it,'" Rees said. "I wasn't sure what would happen when I sent this guy my money." 
  
 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT 
  
 Now before you write him off as some con-artist whittling away on pre-packaged No. 2s from a farmhouse upstate you should know Rees is a sharp guy. 
  
 "Internet commenters have definitely made this argument before," Rees said. "Now, a pencil is a completely transparent communication tool. There's no secret to it." 
  
 As for his pencils, he began sharpening those after leaving a job as a political cartoonist to work for the 2010 Census, where he spent all day recording his findings with a No. 2 pencil. 
  
 "I thought there's got to be a way to get paid to sharpen pencils for people," he said. 
  
 1,804 flawlessly sharpened mostly No. 2 pencils later, Rees has penned a book on his art form, collected an arsenal of different sharpeners, and taught classes to students who sharpen better than he does. 
  
 "I'm always really simultaneously happy for them and always really intimidated," he said, "like please don't go into business against me. You're going to crush me." 
  
 But after two years of collecting pencil shavings with tweezers for his customers, Rees is nearing his breaking point. 
  
 When Rees started, he hoped every busted tip would lead the writer to pay for a sharpening. Instead, most customers order David's pencil points and display them as artwork. 
  
 "The whole point of the business is to remind people to appreciate yellow, No. 2 pencils because they're really cool and interesting," he said. "And to make a ton of money." 
  
 But at this point, work feels like work. 
  
 "You do anything long enough for money, it just starts to become a job," he said. 
  
 So as he nears the nice round number of 2,000 sharpenings, Rees suggested that soon he'd like to clean out his sharpeners for good, leaving the world a much duller place. 
  
 Click for more from MyFoxNY.com. |||||  
  
 GOING DEEP WITH DAVID REES is a different kind of how-to show. You can watch it here. PLEASE NOTE: ORDERS TAKE APPROXIMATELY 6-8 WEEKS TO SHIP. *** 
  
 REACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE PLEASURES OF A HAND-SHARPENED PENCIL. In New York's Hudson River Valley, craftsman David Rees still practices the age-old art of manual pencil sharpening. His artisanal service is perfect for artists, writers, and standardized test takers. Shipped with their shavings and a "certificate of sharpening," these extra-sharp pencils make wonderful gifts. 
  
  
  
 Traditionally people mail in their pencils to be sharpened; however David now offers a new service: He will provide the pencil. ORDER OPTIONS Pencil Only (US) $500.00 USD Pencil Only (non-US) $520.00 USD 
  
 media/sales inquiries: 
  
 contact@artisanalpencilsharpening.com 
  
 David Rees shares his secrets in his NEW BOOK! HOW TO SHARPEN PENCILS is "the standard to which all future pencil-sharpening textbooks must now aspire." (New Yorker) You can buy it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, iTunes, or your local bookseller. |||||
A:
David Rees is an artisanal pencil sharpener. No, really. The former political cartoonist charges $35 for a "hand-sharpened" No. 2 pencil, and he has sold 1,804 of them already, Fox News reports. Rees, who discovered the art of pencil sharpening after taking a job with the 2010 Census and spending all day writing with a No. 2, has also written a book on pencil sharpening—How to Sharpen Pencils—and teaches classes on his methods. "The whole point of the business is to remind people to appreciate yellow, No. 2 pencils because they're really cool and interesting," he says. "And to make a ton of money." But after two years and almost 2,000 pencils, Rees says he's thinking of hanging up his sharpeners. "You do anything long enough for money, it just starts to become a job," he says. (Click to read about another wild job ... which involves spending 15 weeks in bed.)