The Great Debate: Pens vs. Pencils

The Great Debate: Pens vs. Pencils

By Alex Belloli, Spring 2018 Intern

Which is better: pens or pencils? It’s a controversy that has been plaguing academia for centuries. Math teachers often tout pencils as superior due to the paramountcy of the eraser. But does the ability to erase mistakes always translate to preference?

Well, here at PSG, that doesn’t seem to be the case:

• Melina prefers writing with a Sharpie ink pen because of the smooth motions it allows across the paper. To her, that outweighs the inherent neatness of the pencil.
• Tess is also partial to pens, though her preference didn’t solidify until college. The four-colored pens are her favorite, as they allow for easy color-coding!
• Nora often does creative writing in cursive, which is the perfect style for her preference: pens. Contrastingly, she likes using pencils when taking notes, especially when she anticipates erasing a lot.
• Trina sides with the math teachers of the world on this: pencils are her choice, largely for the ease of correcting mistakes.
• I almost exclusively use pens (the Pilot G2 is my favorite) because they glide across the page, which allows me to write faster (albeit messier).

It seems PSG by and large prefers pens, though the merits of a good eraser aren’t lost on the staff!

The Hostel on Mango Street: Following Poet Sandra Cisneros to Greece

The Hostel on Mango Street: Following Poet Sandra Cisneros to Greece

By Erin Sherry

Have you ever fantasized about meeting your favorite writer? How about serving her a plate of mountain trout, with a hearty helping of Sriracha sauce on the side? While working at a restaurant in Western New York last summer, not only did I get to serve dinner to the beloved poet Sandra Cisneros—I got to tell her about the time I followed her words all the way across the globe!

Sipping a pot of green tea, my favorite writer listened as I told her that, while studying abroad in Europe, I traveled with three of my fellow Cisneros-loving friends to the postcard-perfect island of Hydra, Greece, where she had written The House on Mango Street.

Using Cisneros’s memoir, A House of My Own, as our travel guide, we ate calamari at the crest of the mountains, took turns reading her poetry aloud as we hiked along the turquoise coast, and admired the limestone houses she had accurately described as seeming “carved out of feta cheese.” Cisneros’s eyes lit up at the mention of Hydra, and she said she was thrilled to hear that she had sent a group of young female writers like herself to such a special place.

Though I often feel like my favorite books have transported me around the world, I’ll always remember the time one actually did!

PSG's Kryptonite: The Staff's Favorite Superheroes

PSG's Kryptonite: The Staff's Favorite Superheroes

By Trina Scuderi, Spring 2018 Intern

Over the past few years, superheroes have emerged as Hollywood’s victors. Between the Avengers series, Wonder Woman and the many incarnations of Spider-Man, the hype hasn’t faltered. 

Here are some of PSG’s favorite heroes!

• Annette’s favorite is Wonder Woman. She’s been waiting a long time for a female superhero, and believes the wait has been worth it. She loves how fierce, smart, inspiring and brave Wonder Woman is. You may even see Annette donning her Wonder Woman shirt—complete with a cape!
• Although Tess isn’t a huge fan of superheroes, she also loved watching Wonder Woman over the summer. She too was happy to finally see a strong, independent female superhero.
• Given her love of cats, it’s no surprise that Melina’s favorite is Catwoman. She loves how Catwoman is able to strike the perfect balance between heroism and villainy.
• While Nora loves Black Widow and believes she’s exceptionally underrated, the members of the Incredibles are her favorite heroes. She thinks The Incredibles is one of Disney-Pixar’s best films, and is eager for the upcoming sequel.

My favorite superhero is Spider-Man. He’s awkward yet sweet, and proves what we all want to believe—that anyone can be a hero.

Nap It Off!

By Alex Belloli

Spring 2018 Intern

One thing got me through college with (most of) my sanity intact: napping. Whether it was in my apartment or in the library, napping gave me the energy to carry on. Even after graduating, I find a good nap to be immeasurably helpful in energizing me when I need it.

There are three types of napping: planned, emergency and habitual. Planned napping is what I often did between classes—napping to give myself energy before I got exhausted. Emergency napping is more rare: if you’re driving at night and find yourself too tired to drive, pull over and take an emergency nap. Habitual napping is just daily scheduled naps. Napping for 20–30 minutes daily is recommended in order to increase alertness and productivity!

The length of the nap is important! Sleep comes in five stages: Stages 1 and 2 are light sleep, Stages 3 and 4 are deep sleep, and Stage 5 is REM sleep (where most dreaming occurs). Humans cycle through all of the stages in about 90 minutes, so if you have the time, a 90-minute nap can be as beneficial as 8 hours of sleep! If you wake during the deep-sleep stages of a cycle—something that I am often guilty of!—you’re more likely to be groggy and irritable. So if you’re going to nap, nap smart!

Rare Reads and Expensive Editions: Some of the World’s Priciest Publications

By Erin Sherry

Spring 2018 Intern

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 prized possessions. However, there are some limits to how much I’m willing to spend on books, and these rare reads—cashing in as some of the most expensive titles in the world—definitely make the cut!

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (“The Moonstone Edition”), J.K. Rowling: $3.98 million

Arguably, you can’t put a price tag on the magic of the Harry Potter series. However, two copies of this handwritten and illustrated companion collection have sold for upwards of 4 million (muggle) dollars!

The Birds of America, John James Audubon: $10 million

Only 120 copies of this hand-colored, life-sized book were ever completed by the renowned artist, so its frequent moniker as “the most expensive book in the world” comes as no surprise.

Codex Hammer, Leonardo da Vinci: $30.8 million

Microsoft’s Bill Gates took this rare notebook (full of over 300 original notes and illustrations) off the market in 1994, though he has been lending it to museums once a year ever since.

Though I think I’ll remain loyal to the discount tables at my favorite bookshops until I strike the lottery, it sure is fun to dream!

From Crop to Cup: Coffee’s Humble Brew-ginning

By Alex Belloli

Spring 2018 Intern

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 legends about the first discovery of coffee, but one in particular has become the most popular. Long ago in Egypt, a goatherd called Kaldi noticed his goats became very energetic after eating certain berries. Curious, Kaldi ate some himself and experienced a similar boost in energy. He went to a nearby monastery and told the abbot of the phenomenon, who then turned the berries into a drink. He found it allowed the monks to stay awake during nightly religious services, and thereafter, this proto-coffee was quickly adopted by many monasteries and became an important part of prayer sessions.

What began as a crude concoction is now one of the most popular crafted beverages on Earth—in 1999 it was reported that 2.25 billion cups were consumed in the world every day. I have proudly contributed to today’s daily statistics and, so long as I need to wake, will continue to consume cup after cup.