I have a tradition of visiting the public library in every new city I visit. Call me a bibliophile, but a library says a lot about its city. I’ve been to the New York Public Library (NYPL) Midtown branch numerous times, but the next time I’m in New York, I’ll have a “new” library to visit—the Midtown branch’s Mid-Manhattan Library is beginning a long-awaited [...]
At seven o’clock on a rainy November night, I headed back to class to start a five-hour screening of King Lear, where my professor met me and my classmates with a bag of secret-recipe homemade popcorn. As an English major at Smith College, I was required to take an intensive course. I got the very last spot in a class that meant 15 [...]
Once, in grade school, I was given a blank map of the world and asked to label every country (in pen—yikes). I may have gotten a lot wrong on that test, but it turns out the map I was working with may not have been accurate to begin with! I was probably being tested on the Mercator projection, one of today’s most common [...]
We’re a staff of passionate readers at PSG, and when not working with words in the office, we make time to read for fun in some of our favorite places. Kate’s favorite place to read is reclining on her porch on a warm weekend morning,but she also does a lot of reading as a commuter, where she can be caught peeking at what others [...]
My first theater experience was in fifth grade, when I joined a community production of Guys and Dolls. I had a tiny role, but it gave me a lifelong love of the stage. I’m always looking for new Broadway obsessions, so naturally I never miss the Tony Awards. The Tonys are up there with the Emmys and Oscars in terms of prestigious awards. [...]
For the past seven summers, I have been scooping homemade ice cream at a local shop in New Hampshire. In honor of July being National Ice Cream Month, and as the resident ice cream expert on site, I decided to investigate which frozen treats the PSG staff holds nearest and dearest to their hearts. Ken, a native of Ohio, admitted to loving his [...]
As a college student, I’ve been programmed to type in Times New Roman—the font most often required for school assignments. But as the Font Sunday movement shows, I’ve been missing out on a whole wide world of fonts. Font Sunday is a weekly font-spotting Twitter project spearheaded by the Design Museum in London. Every Saturday, the Design Museum tweets out a font theme. Followers [...]
When I think of the North Pole, I think of the harshest winter weather times 10, a wasteland of snow and ice, the glare on the snow so bad I probably wouldn’t even be able to open my eyes. It’s a no-man’s-land. But not for long. The North Pole might be one of the most important places to study weather patterns in the [...]
The USS Constitution color guard team presents colors as the Navy Northeast Marching Band joins the world-renowned Boston Pops Orchestra for the grand finale of "America!" Thousands were on hand at the annual performance at Symphony Hall for an evening of patriotic songs. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Dave Kaylor) As a kid, one of my family’s traditions [...]
Here at PSG, it’s clear that our musical tastes cover a range of styles and sounds. I have a soft spot for Irish music—both traditional and contemporary—with a fondness for all songs involving Heidi Talbot. But I wanted to see what others thought, so I asked around to see what everyone’s favorites were—and some of my coworkers surprised me! Ken loves James Taylor because [...]