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: 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 …

Contest: Fall Into The Gap
November 11, 2009 · 19 Comments

Daphra at Donors Choose sent out an email yesterday that contained the following festive coupon:
We would also like to pass along a cool offer to you and your supporters: a 30% off discount at any …

Adventures In Random DVR-Pausing: Taking! It! Personally!
November 10, 2009 · 8 Comments
Adventures In Random DVR-Pausing: Taking! It! Personally!

In Hargitay’s defense, I think the guy taking her hostage had just gotten shot by Vincent Spano; I’d make that face too.   On the other hand, she could have just read yet another script …

Contest: Behold The Prizing Phase
November 9, 2009 · 9 Comments

Hello there, friends.   The Great Amandsby and I have spent the last few days getting organized for the main prizing phase of our proceedings, and it looks like we’re just about ready to go …

The Vine: November 6, 2009
November 6, 2009 · 15 Comments

I was hoping your readers could help me find two books that have been on the tip of my mind for years.
The first is a children’s book about an anxious lop named Chuck.The tagline of …

Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By
November 6, 2009 · 81 Comments
<I>Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By</I>

I watch enough “vintage” movies and television that I find myself thinking about bygone customs and technology a lot — like how writers will contrive to have characters overhear phone messages not meant for them, …

Grounded
November 5, 2009 · One Comment
<I>Grounded</I>

Hey, remember the Ask The Readers book I put you guys onto in July, about the kid with the glider and the school play?   I ordered a copy from Half.com and re-read it in …

The Vine: November 3, 2009
November 4, 2009 · 74 Comments

Hi,
I have scoured the internet and your site for the past few hours over an etiquette dilemma that’s just fallen into my lap.
Backstory: My mom is an only child.She has three adult cousins on …

Contest: Now What?
November 3, 2009 · 27 Comments
Contest: Now What?

First, we admire the crafty initiative of reader Deanna in dressing her own Miss Tomatohead up as a member of the nightshade family using only materials at hand.   Excellent use of green felt, young …

The World’s Series of Base-Ball: Discuss
November 1, 2009 · 61 Comments
The World’s Series of Base-Ball: Discuss

I went with an olde-timey title because Cliff Lee threw a good old-fashioned CG last night.   Can’t say I love the result as a Yankee fan, but I have to give it up for …