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: July 8, 2009
July 8, 2009 · 80 Comments

How do you alphabetize a list containing items starting with numbers? I remember learning back in the day that you do it as if you were writing the number out. So “5th” goes under F, …

N Cereal AA: The Sweet 16
July 7, 2009 · 56 Comments
N Cereal AA: The Sweet 16

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1 Rice Krispies vs. 4 Lucky Charms. …Ouch.This match-up could serve as an indicator of what we can expect once the winners in each draw …

Blue Velvet
July 6, 2009 · 30 Comments
<I>Blue Velvet</I>

David Lynch is, for me, an odd case.Everything he’s doing in a given film, the nods to and lifts from noir, the dreamy callbacks, the pointed ugliness in the candy coating, I can get behind …

The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound
July 6, 2009 · 2 Comments
<I>The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound</I>

I’d fooled myself into thinking I was a key part of the team, and that if there were cuts to be made they would come from the bottom. It’s like that old line about being …

The Vine: July 3, 2009
July 3, 2009 · 8 Comments

Hi Sars,
I’ve been wracking my brain for weeks, now, trying to remember this book I read when I was a little kid. I’m really at an impasse, as my memory of it is pretty patchy, …

Breakfast; Wimbledon
July 2, 2009 · 2 Comments

The current rounds of the N Cereal AA will close tomorrow; we’ll return with the Sweet 16 on Monday.   While you wait, enjoy the Wimbledon Drinking Game I helped Joe R to craft, or …

The Vine: July 1, 2009
July 1, 2009 · 84 Comments

Hi Sars,
The story is this: I am a 21-year-old high-school graduate who has spent about four years on a two-year degree because of lack of focus, lack of money, and lack of “motivation.”
Oh, also home-schooled …

N Cereal AA Round of 32, Flights 3 and 4: Fiberfest and Sugar Shock
July 1, 2009 · 23 Comments
N Cereal AA Round of 32, Flights 3 and 4: Fiberfest and Sugar Shock

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1 Quaker Oat(meal) Squares vs. 8 oatmeal. I can’t say I’m particularly surprised that traditional oatmeal triumphed over Puffed Rice, the John Tesh of breakfast …

N Cereal AA Round of 32, Flights 1 and 2: Classics and Fruit/Nut
July 1, 2009 · 22 Comments
N Cereal AA Round of 32, Flights 1 and 2: Classics and Fruit/Nut

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1 Rice Krispies vs. 9 Shredded Wheat. Each of these unadorned Classics had a relatively easy path to the Round of 32, but despite the …

Shea Good-Bye
June 29, 2009 · 6 Comments
<em>Shea Good-Bye</em>

I like Keith Hernandez, but as a TV commentator, he has weaknesses. Leaving aside the “what’s that betty doing in the dugout” incident, Hernandez tends to dwell more than I’d like on the kind of …