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 N Cereal AA: It Begins
June 23, 2009 · 18 Comments
The N Cereal AA: It Begins

Still some busywork to do here before I open the polls (read: “I picked a fight with the polling software and lost, big-time”), but the N Cereal AA is almost ready to launch.  You can …

The N Cereal AA
June 22, 2009 · No Comment

updated4 August, 9 AM, with a crowned winner: Frosted Flakes

We’ve crownedan N Cheese AA champion, and one in the NC Double Scoop.   Now it’s timefor yet another series of showdowns in the grocery aisle, …

The Vine: June 19, 2009
June 19, 2009 · 27 Comments

Sorry for the late posting, friends.I spent the day 1) at Dr. Robinson’s office (all moles currently quietly minding their own beeswax, but if you meant to call your derm last winter and then didn’t …

The Vine: June 17, 2009
June 17, 2009 · 55 Comments

Dear Sars,
I stumbled into a problem and I’m way out of my depth.I’m hoping you or your readers will have some advice for me.
My husband comes from a family with a history of cancer.He lost …

This just in (or, rather, out): Master Stupidhead
June 15, 2009 · 100 Comments
This just in (or, rather, out): Master Stupidhead

Above: David Gardner Bunting III, born 13 June 2009, 7:45 PM, eight pounds, five ounces; and his favorite aunt.   Everyone is healthy and in fine fettle, and the littlest Bunting is already submitting amiably …

The Vine: June 12, 2009
June 12, 2009 · 50 Comments

Hi Sars,
I just agreed to be the matron of honor for my dear friend’s wedding, and I have ten weeks to transform my 39-year-old self into the second-hottest babe on the planet.
I’m up to date …

Crazy Diamonds: The Wrestler and Criminal Law
June 11, 2009 · 32 Comments
Crazy Diamonds: <I>The Wrestler</I> and <I>Criminal Law</I>

I waited to watch The Wrestler, because I did want to see it right when it came out, but the press surrounding Mickey Rourke’s performance quickly grew to a height that dwarfed the film itself …

The Vine: June 10, 2009
June 10, 2009 · 64 Comments

Dear Sars,
“Publicly” or “publically”? My instinct says the latter is preferable, but I see the former (which I HATE) more and more in print and online media. Online dictionaries claim they’re synonymous. Am I being …

Baseball book-review three-pack: American Icon, The Last Nine Innings, and Seasons In Hell
June 6, 2009 · 11 Comments
Baseball book-review three-pack: <I>American Icon</I>, <I>The Last Nine Innings</I>, and <I>Seasons In Hell</I>

American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime is the work of four writers (Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O’Keeffe, and Christian Red), and you can kind of …

The Vine: June 5, 2009
June 5, 2009 · 45 Comments

…Bookfest!
Dear Sars,
I’m looking for a book I read as a kid or perhaps a teenager. It was about a boy who ran away from home and took up residence in an abandoned train station. I …