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: December 2, 2009
December 2, 2009 · 74 Comments

Dear Sars,
I’m looking for a great self-help book that can teach me how to deal with difficult people. Specifically, my sister-in-law Carrie.
If I spend too much time trying to describe her, it will only make …

21 Jump Street: “America, What A Town”
December 1, 2009 · 10 Comments
<I>21 Jump Street</I>: “America, What A Town”

“Shut Up, Penhall” Count: 5
Accompanied by a David Coverdale-oid wailing, “YOU stole my WOOOORRRRLD,” a guy takes about four days to steal a Mercury Sable under cover of night.Well, sort of.He’s directly under a streetlight.Heaven …

Colors
November 29, 2009 · 29 Comments
<I>Colors</I>

Another one for the “I added it to my Netflix queue years ago and have no memory of why” file, I sat down to Colors expecting to have to endure it. For one thing, Sean …

The Vine: November 25, 2009
November 25, 2009 · 29 Comments

Hi Sars,
For ages I’ve been trying to find an animated movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that I saw as a child (during the ’80s).
I checked IMDB first, of course, …

Contest ’09: Deal
November 25, 2009 · 257 Comments

And awaaaaaay we go!
You can find the contest FAQ and the prizing page at the top righthand side, or by clicking these links; the baffled should click here for more information on Donors Choose and …

The Vine: November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009 · 20 Comments

Sars,
I have just discovered your site and am nearly jumping up and down that there is a place for me to ask about books I read as a child that I can’t remember the …

The Vine: November 18, 2009
November 18, 2009 · 67 Comments

What’s the proper construction for the possessive form of a noun phrase such as “commander-in-chief”? I know the plural is “commanders-in-chief,” but is the plural possessive then “commanders’-in-chief”? “Or commanders-in-chief’s”? That doesn’t look right…
This question …

The Vine: November 13, 2009
November 13, 2009 · 32 Comments
The Vine: November 13, 2009

Hi Sars,
I am hoping your savvy and knowledgeable Vine readers can help me find out about this little guy (picture at right).   I took this pic, and another one on the mall in Washington …

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
November 12, 2009 · 12 Comments
<I>Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town</I>

Reporters and writers of non-fiction run into trouble when, as their story begins to take shape, they decide that that story speaks a larger truth about Us As [Adjective] Americans.Us As 21st-Century Americans, Us As …

The Vine: November 11, 2009
November 11, 2009 · 75 Comments

Dear Sars:
So I have my first “real job” and suffice it to say, it’s not going well. I’m 26 and have had a wealth of jobs, from retail to reception. But this is my first …