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 8, 2006
December 8, 2006 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I have boys in sports and bleach is the worst thing you can do to nylon sports equipment (like football pants, turns them yellow-grey and it never comes out). I’m afraid the same thing …

The Vine: December 7, 2006
December 7, 2006 · No Comment

I second the shoe-repair suggestion…I have had other leather items
repaired by cobblers.Stitchwork is stitchwork, in many cases.

For the lining she might contact a tailor…I bet a tailor could make
the fix, or have good suggestions for …

The Vine: December 5, 2006
December 5, 2006 · No Comment
The Vine: December 5, 2006

Hi Sars —
This doesn’t necessarily address the alarm part, but Seriously
Sleepless in Seattle mentioned her earplugs falling out — she might
want to consider custom earplugs.I have mine made at the annual
motorcycle show (I’m a biker), …

Giving Is Such Sweet Sorrow
December 4, 2006 · One Comment

I can’t seem to get any holiday-shopping momentum going this year. I’d like to blame the weather, which had lodged itself firmly in t-shirt territory until two days ago, but it got cold Friday night …

The Vine: December 1, 2006
December 1, 2006 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I love The Vine and I am so excited that I finally have a (hopefully!) worthwhile question to write to you about.I have a pair of white and red Puma Tennis shoes that …

The Vine: November 30, 2006
November 30, 2006 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
How far can you allow a friend to make “stupid” decisions?
I’m sure we’ve all had the classic scenario, where a friend/sibling/parent dates someone who is “wrong” for them, at least in our eyes,
but at …

The Vine: November 29, 2006
November 29, 2006 · No Comment

Hello Sars:
Longtime listener, first-time caller.It’s a boy — I will hopefully be brief, mostly because I am too damn old to be thinking like this.
I got out of a five-year relationship at the end of …

The Vine: November 28, 2006
November 28, 2006 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I’m twenty-two and currently in some heavy-duty therapy. I have a kind of complicated and scary history of anorexia, bulimia, depression, suicide attempts, hospitalizations, et cetera, all of which I’m working on. I’m making …

Free-Range Turkeys
November 26, 2006 · No Comment

Dear Thanksgiving: Bunting Camp Attendee,
Congratulations on your admission to Thanksgiving: Bunting Camp! It’s the participation and support of alcoholi– er, “campers” like yourself that have made T:BC the proud holiday tradition it is today, and …

The Vine: November 21, 2006
November 21, 2006 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
Please tell Electrician not to bother to get converter for anything
other than her laptop.I studied in the UK for two years and I can’t
even begin to tell you how many fellow Americans tried to …