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 29, 2004
July 29, 2004 · No Comment

Oh, wise Sars!
I did it again. Like bargaining in prayer, I promise never to shoot my mouth off again if you tell what to do.
I work in a pharmacy in a fairly small town. I …

The Vine: July 28, 2004
July 28, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
About a year ago I broke up my two-and-a-half-year relationship. I was sick of dealing with serious relationship-type problems and the headaches they cause. We were fighting every time we saw each other, and …

The Vine: July 27, 2004
July 27, 2004 · No Comment

Hey Sars —
I love your site! My partner and I have a cat with similar issues — he’s just a bundle of love until you need to cut his nails. Our solution was a pillowcase …

The Subheroes Chapter 5: The Kid Enters The Picture
July 26, 2004 · One Comment

The first thing she notices about the bar is that it smells funny. It doesn’t smell bad — but that’s what’s funny about it. There isn’t that fug of slopped beer and secondhand cologne. Everything …

The Vine: July 22, 2004
July 22, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars:
I need help with a feline issue.
Our cat, Tabby, has been a wonderful addition to our lives. We adopted her two years ago as a middle-aged stray from the SPCA. She is very loving …

The Vine: July 21, 2004
July 21, 2004 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
Love your site…actually stumbled across it while Googling something about raisins. My friend hates those things as much as you do.
Hopefully I can help out your budding designer. Your advice was right on…”get it …

The Vine: July 20, 2004
July 20, 2004 · No Comment

Hey Sars — first off, hats off to you and your insightful, amusing web site.
Now that the gratuitous boot-licking is over, on to my dilemma…
A relative of mine is looking to have a coffee table …

The Subheroes Chapter 4: The Plan Falls Apart
July 19, 2004 · No Comment

Diz hands the hen back to me and holds his hand out to —
Okay, can I — I’m sorry, I need to just stop you here for a second.
Shelley freezes, hen under her arm lineman-style, …

The Vine: July 16, 2004
July 16, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Deborah (and Sars),
I’m a 17-year-old Muslim girl, and I wear the veil.
I’ve never had a problem with it; I’ve never felt oppressed because I wear it, and I’ve never felt forced to wear it. …

The Vine: July 15, 2004
July 15, 2004 · No Comment

Deborah —
Thank goodness you’re in the expert column right now.
I have a problem I never thought I’d have. I am part of a very small book group. I worked in bookstores for years before getting …