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: April 8, 2004
April 8, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
I suppose, when you get right down to it, mine is not a dilemma of the upmost importance, but the subject is really beginning to strain some of my friendships. The issue? Abortion. And …

The Vine: April 7, 2004
April 7, 2004 · No Comment

Sars —
I work in an industry (manufacturing equipment for oil rigs) traditionally dominated by men, and I am one of four women (I’m a technical writer, one’s a drafter, one’s an admin, and one’s clerical) …

The Vine: April 6, 2004
April 6, 2004 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I’ve been mulling this one over for a few weeks and would really appreciate
your excellent advice.
I come from a very successful “built something from nothing” kind of family.
My sibling and I have both pursued …

The Famous Ghost Monologues, No. 20: Curtis Carter Cresswell
April 5, 2004 · No Comment

A light? I didn’t see any light. I’ll tell you what I did see.
Now, I’d been in the hospital for some time — I’d been in and out of the hospital, you know, but this …

The Vine: April 2, 2004
April 2, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars, grammar maven from on high,
Glad to see this touched on in The Vine, but I’d like to know what you think
of the prevalence of “women” or “woman” used as an adjective in place …

The Vine: April 1, 2004
April 1, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
So a few months after breaking up with my boyfriend, I decided to try the
whole online dating scene. I recently moved to a new city, it seemed like a
low-pressure way to meet nice guys, …

The Vine: March 31, 2004
March 31, 2004 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
Thanks for doing what you do and keeping me laughing at work. I have a
particular pet peeve about the word “entitled.” My dad pointed it out to
me years and years ago, and it’s bugged …

The Vine: March 30, 2004
March 30, 2004 · No Comment

Hello, Sars.
I was wondering if you would mind giving an insight on the problem I’m facing.
In short words, the problem’s between my mom, college and I. In longer words, it’s an issue of common sense, …

The Famous Ghost Monologues, No. 1d: Mary Therese Ventura
March 29, 2004 · No Comment

Oh my God is it boring. It is so boring! Everything about it? Boring. Boring, boring, boring, starting with my outfit, which I never get to change. Same dress, same shoes, same road, same same …

The Vine: March 26, 2004
March 26, 2004 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
I have a problem, of course. It’s a big one, and you might not know how to
handle it, but I don’t know where else to turn.
I have lots of friends that have been sexually …