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!

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 10
April 4, 2010 · 12 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 10

People notice the car, and because they notice the car, they notice the plates. Mostly, they comment that they can’t believe I drove a Tupperware container all the way from New York City, but now …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 9
April 3, 2010 · 13 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 9

I went back to Chao Camp at midday. AB had tried to text me to say that Mad Chao was getting sprung from the clink, but I’d left my phone at Chao Camp, and my …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 8
April 2, 2010 · 32 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 8

Where to begin, my friends? The hotel is as good a place as any, because The Atrium is The Weird. It’s not bad; it’s not gross; it’s just weird. I could tell, and locals confirmed, …

The Vine: March 31, 2010
March 31, 2010 · 19 Comments
The Vine: March 31, 2010

It’s another on-the-road Ask The Readers; today’s theme is missing songs. Go!
*****
Hoping one your readers can help.
Years ago I was a nanny — the kids had a great cassette tape (this proves it was years …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 7
March 30, 2010 · 62 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 7

I had about a half dozen different days in one on Monday, starting off at the National Civil Rights Museum. I’d forgotten Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, and the museum is on …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 6
March 29, 2010 · 30 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 6

Maybe it’s not always like that at Graceland. Maybe it was the chilly weather, maybe it was everyone buried in the audio tour and not talking much — I’ve never visited before, so I can’t …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 5
March 28, 2010 · 25 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 5

I ran errands Saturday morning. It’s weird running errands in a town not my own. I feel like an impostor, a little bit. “You can’t just mail something here — you live in another time …

N Candy AA: Round of 64, Flight 4
March 28, 2010 · 51 Comments
N Candy AA: Round of 64, Flight 4

Today’s write-ups by Sarah D. Bunting.Updated bracket is here. Confused? Click here.

1 Milky Way vs. 16 Sno-Caps. I used to like Milky Ways much more than I do now; I was really into airy-nougat candies …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Days 3-4
March 27, 2010 · 6 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Days 3-4

Every year we come down for the baseball conference, it’s cold and rainy, and every year, every earthworm and slug within six feet of the front-entrance apron at the Crestwood Suites decides it’s going to …

Big Country Little Car Tour: Day 2
March 25, 2010 · 25 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour: Day 2

I spent most of the day on interstates. I’d rather take blue highways all around, but in this part of the trip, I don’t have time.

I did get to take the Bourbon Trail for an …