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 Vine: January 27, 2010
January 27, 2010 · 134 Comments

Dear Sars,
I have fruit trees in my yard.Most of them are in the back behind a tall locked gate, but I have a tangerine tree in my front yard behind an unlocked (but gated) 3-foot-tall …

TV Question Qorner: Goodbye Walkers, Hello Fleissmore
January 26, 2010 · 27 Comments
TV Question Qorner: Goodbye Walkers, Hello Fleissmore

Brothers & Sisters. Did y’all bail out on it weeks ago? Just wondering if I’m the last one out the door on B&S, which at very long last I have kicked to the curb. The …

The Vine: January 22, 2010
January 22, 2010 · 71 Comments

After reading the Twilight saga I am hooked on the “offbeat romance” angle!I am currently reading A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb and hoping your readers can recommend some additional books that fit …

The Vine: January 20, 2010
January 20, 2010 · 58 Comments

I don’t know if I’m writing this more as a question or for therapy. All I know is life does not seem right and I’m not sure what right is anymore.
I’ve had three cats …

The Vine: January 13, 2010
January 13, 2010 · 51 Comments

Ask The Readers moves to Wednesday this week; I’ve bought a house (yay), but have to move again on Friday (boo), so TN will likely go dark for a few days.
*****
Hi Sars,
So, I have a …

I’m Here To Talk About The Present
January 12, 2010 · 43 Comments
I’m Here To Talk About The Present

This is not what I wanted to hear.
I don’t mean Mark McGwire’s admission that he used PEDs itself.I did in fact want to hear that, no matter how belated, because the discussion needs to move …

Open: Meth and the Maidens
January 9, 2010 · 12 Comments
<I>Open</I>: Meth and the Maidens

— by Todd K
Often when an autobiography makes pre-release headlines for its “shocking revelations” (in the case of Open, the big ones were Andre Agassi’s early-1990s mullet wig, late-1990s meth use, and lifelong hatred of …

The Vine: January 8, 2010
January 8, 2010 · 90 Comments

Hi, Sars —
In light of “Keeping It Clean,” I direct this question not to you, but to the readers.
My kitchen is kind of a nightmare from a cleaning perspective — it has matte paint, virtually …

Gall Of Fame: Baseball’s Most Loathed Players
January 7, 2010 · 166 Comments
Gall Of Fame: Baseball’s Most Loathed Players

Which baseball player do you despise above (or perhaps “below”) all others?Which name, upon its mention, sends your heart rate up into a hate gyre?
Do you hate the same players now that you did when …

The Vine: January 6, 2010
January 6, 2010 · 94 Comments

Dear Sars,
I’ve been getting several conflicting opinions on this one. I usually do a really good job staying out of office politics, but now I am in a situation where a non-committal grunt isn’t going …