I did not like the dancing portion of high school theater; every dance was a painful experience for me and anyone nearby. To this day, I cannot confidently do the Charleston, but luckily all that time spent on the dance floor wasn’t wasted. It turns out even poor attempts at dancing can help your brain! A team led by a Colorado State University [...]
Picture this: you’re nearing the conclusion of a thrilling book, and you can feel three pages left in your fingers. But the ending comes more abruptly than you thought—the last two pages are blank! I used to wonder how those extra pages ended up in my books. But PSG staff members Alyssa and Don clued me in on an alternative definition of the [...]
Tucked away in a Berkshire valley, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is one of the most innovative museums in New England—and one of the most fascinating art museums I’ve ever visited. MASS MoCA was converted from a nineteenth-century mill into a contemporary art behemoth, making the building an attraction in itself. Consisting of 26 buildings, the sprawling property has extensive courtyards, [...]
Synesthesia is generally described as a neurological crossover of the senses. Essentially, the stimulation of one sense causes the experience of another. In his autobiography, author Vladimir Nabokov wrote that his synesthesia caused his brain to conjure colors when he heard different letters and sounds. In Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve, data journalist Ben Blatt seeks to learn more about the Russian-American author, as [...]
If you ever had to read A Tale of Two Cities at a young age, you probably felt like I did—a little overwhelmed and not exactly in love. I never thought I would willingly pick it up again. As a senior English major, however, I felt I had to give the popular classic one more shot, and I was pleasantly surprised when I did. My [...]
At the start of this summer, my first time alone in Boston, I felt some mild trepidation about having to ride the subway system fondly known as “the T.” Coming from rural Vermont, it was a completely foreign concept to me. But now Boston offers an even more eye-opening way of getting around. “The Z,” a newly opened zip line in the heart [...]
After a busy day at the office, it can be nice to unwind with something sweet. At PSG, we all have different ways of treating ourselves. Here are some of the staff’s favorite desserts. Katy enjoys lemon squares and homemade banana “ice cream” (which is actually just blended, frozen bananas!). Matthew is more into appetizers and entrees, but has a long-held love for [...]
Startup Stock Photos Ever since I was a child, I have loved the Comic Sans font because of how much it resembled my own handwriting, even as my handwriting developed into a more adult-like form. But how did this childlike, whimsical font come into play? Initially, Comic Sans was created for a digital dog named Rover. While testing a beta version [...]
My mom and I are most similar in our Irish heritage and love of reading. We recently traveled to Ireland together and soaked up not just the cloudy countryside, but also Ireland’s rich literary history, by creating our own literary Dublin walking tour. We began with the Dublin Writers Museum. In an unassuming yet charming eighteenth-century brick house in northern Dublin, we saw unique [...]
When I delve into a book, I like to read every chapter name before I start in. I always like to have some idea of what I’m getting into. This is a practice I sort of fell into, though I never realized the other PSG staff members might also have curious reading habits they’ve fallen into! Alyssa’s main habit, which she gets a [...]