As a lifelong book lover, I’ve been known to rack up quite the bookstore bill, and often find self-control difficult to exercise when I’m lost in the stacks. Unique copies of my favorite books, such as a holographic edition of Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase and a signed copy of the illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, are among my most [...]
I am only a morning person by one means: coffee. Until I take my first sips, I’m basically a corpse. Growing up, I always heard adults rave about coffee, but it was a phenomenon I never understood until I experienced it. Most people know why coffee boosts our energy, but not how it came to be one of humanity’s favorite drinks. There are many [...]
Every year for the holidays, I’ll bake hundreds of cookies. For two full days, every flat surface in my house will be covered with ingredients, baking trays, dough, and freshly baked cookies. It hasn’t always been such a big production at my house. It all started with one cookie: Walnut Cups. I learned how to make them from my aunt, who was more than [...]
The reality of living in New England during the winter is that it is very cold and snowy. Why not escape that reality, stay indoors, and read about other people’s lives? Here are some of the PSG staff’s favorite biographies and autobiographies. One of Kate’s top choices is Mindy Kaling’s Why is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Kaling narrates how she started her writing career and gives [...]
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been the modest bookworm type. Always the soft-spoken one and often referred to as “quiet Alison,” it’s taken me awhile to accept and embrace my introvert’s personality. Although I’ll never be the life of the party, I like to think of myself as a highly thoughtful and empathetic person. Despite heavy and longtime involvement in [...]
New England has no shortage of historical sites to visit, and if you’re like me, visiting historical homes is a favorite tourist pastime. I always try to scout out any old homes of famous writers, so I was pretty excited that Edith Wharton, one of my favorite authors, once lived in my home state. Located in the Berkshires in Lenox, Massachusetts, is the [...]
Some dogs do great when left alone, but others have a harder time being without their owner throughout the day. Cesar Millan, dog trainer extraordinaire, explains that the separation anxiety your pet feels often results in undesirable behavior. It can also cause your dog to feel depressed. As a solution, Millan created a line of audiobooks for dogs. The point of playing these audiobooks [...]
The ability to recognize familiar faces or to learn to recognize new ones is a complex image process that we, humans, take for granted. Other mammals such as chimps have that ability, but what about sheep? A recent study revealed that scientists succeeded in training sheep to recognize the faces of four celebrities by repeatedly presenting the sheep with photographs of their faces. [...]
For the holiday season, Lori treated the PSG team to dinner at the Capital Grille in Burlington, MA. While dining on delicious steaks, fresh and crisp salads, savory fries, creamy mashed potatoes, as well as other incredibly yummy food, we enjoyed each others company and conversation. Ending the dinner on a sweet note, we all indulged in the lavish desserts the restaurant offered. [...]
During my frequent trips to the Waltham Public Library, I noticed a plaque with the name Francis Buttrick on a wall of the brick building. Though I could safely assume that Francis Buttrick was a benefactor of the library, I was curious to learn more about him and the history of the building. Francis Buttrick came to Waltham in 1838 as a carpenter, [...]