Baseball

“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.

Culture and Criticism

From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.

Donors Choose and Contests

Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.

Stories, True and Otherwise

Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.

The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

The Tomato Nation Fall Classic
September 27, 2010 · 2 Comments
The Tomato Nation Fall Classic

Welcome, friends! It’s time to raise some money. The super-duper crazy-big six-figure blowout fundraiser for Donors Choose will return in spring 2011 — but why not rustle up a few bucks now?
The project is called …

The Big Sad Machine
September 24, 2010 · 11 Comments
The Big Sad Machine

I spotted a billboard for this promotion earlier today, near a gas station. Just how broke is this mofo, anyway? Does the Hit King still have back taxes to pay?
At least he’s not selling signed …

The Vine: September 24, 2010
September 24, 2010 · 16 Comments
The Vine: September 24, 2010

I have gone crazy trying to find two “movies” that were aired on (I think) HBO back in the early to mid-1980s. Google and other sites have failed my usually pop-culture-infused brain.
(Note: I think these …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #5: Jacob Have I Loved
September 23, 2010 · 6 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #5: <I>Jacob Have I Loved</I>

Paterson wins our latest poll handily; you can find the book here. (Bargain-hunters, check half.com or your local bookseller; it’s widely available secondhand, in my experience.) A somewhat downbeat selection to kick off the autumn, …

The Vine: September 22, 2010
September 22, 2010 · 45 Comments
The Vine: September 22, 2010

Dear Sars,
One of my husband’s best friends (I’ll call him Kevin) is married to Kate. I feel close to both Kevin and Kate, although we only see each other every few months because we live …

Wing + Ill-Advised Pullover = Crush Of Over A Decade, Shit-Stomped
September 21, 2010 · 14 Comments
Wing + Ill-Advised Pullover = Crush Of Over A Decade, Shit-Stomped

Wing: I am still LOL at that photo. It’s the lead image for my new game, “High Or Head-Injured?”

Sarah: I like to call it…The Crush-Killer. And the hair, WTF. ‘Sup, Methy?

Wing: I mean, dude. Don’t …

Word Of The Day: “pwaft”
September 21, 2010 · 14 Comments
Word Of The Day: “pwaft”

I suspect that “pwaft” needs no definition, but I will let you supply your own in the comments section for a while and then formally update the entry.
Update: “Pwaft” is both a noun and a …

The Vine: September 17, 2010
September 17, 2010 · 126 Comments
The Vine: September 17, 2010

Dear Sarah,
I will be spending a month in the States shortly, flying into New York on the third of October and out of San Francisco third November. Those flights are pretty much my only parameters. …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #5: Poll
September 15, 2010 · 10 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #5: Poll

We’ve got a rather weird list for the fifth round of the TN Read-Along; David Foster Wallace is back, as is Katherine Paterson, and you’ll also see some golden oldies.
Voting will close next Wednesday. Hit …

The Vine: September 15, 2010
September 15, 2010 · 40 Comments
The Vine: September 15, 2010

Dear Sars,
For all of high school, I’ve felt like a fraud. I’m supposedly really, really smart, but I’m lazy and worthless. I scrape by with Bs and A-minuses, but the amount of work I …