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: October 16, 2003
October 16, 2003 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
This isn’t a life-or-death question. Mostly a “why the hell do cats do that”
question.
I have been looking on websites everywhere for an explanation to something
my cat Bob does. My cat makes me laugh harder …

The Vine: October 15, 2003
October 15, 2003 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
I’ve been dealing with this issue for a year or so, and it’s almost at the
boiling point.A friend of mine, we’ll call her “Single White Female,” is
fast on the track to becoming me.It’s been …

The Vine: October 14, 2003
October 14, 2003 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
My marriage has hit a bit of a snag lately, and I am wondering if you have some advice to help me deal with it.I’ve been married to a wonderful guy for three years …

The Famous Ghost Monologues, No. 13: Michael Patrick Crean
October 13, 2003 · No Comment

We never lived here in Sheridan, my wife and I. We worked here, though, all our lives — well, my wife did, over at the hospital. I was on the train, of course. We actually …

The Vine: October 10, 2003
October 10, 2003 · No Comment

My ex-boyfriend and I broke up over a year ago, and have been friends
since shortly after. We talk all the time via IM and email, but
whenever I invite him to hang out, he gets weird …

The Vine: October 9, 2003
October 9, 2003 · No Comment

Hello, Sars — and Un-Dad:
As a veteran of fourteen years of financial aid woes — myself, plus seven siblings, eight cousins and many friends — there are a few things about financial aid Un-Dad, and …

The Vine: October 8, 2003
October 8, 2003 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
Since my daughters were ages 9 and 11, I’ve been a single-parent dad. Jan, age
21, is best friends with my daughters, now ages 22 and 24. She’s spent so
much time with our family the …

The Vine: October 7, 2003
October 7, 2003 · No Comment

Sars —
I wanted to write to respond to “Bewildered Friend” whose friend
suddenly and unexpectedly lost her mother.I am 24 years old.Six weeks
and six days ago, my father died of a massive heart attack.He was in
perfect …

The Famous Ghost Monologues, No. 12: Helen Alton, Dorothy Ayers, and Louise Wallace
October 6, 2003 · No Comment

Dot Ayers: The Shipley business, yes. Where to begin, really.
Helen Alton: Well, not that it’s my place to say, but —
Louise Wallace: Helen, please.
Mrs. Alton: You know, I just don’t know why I bother. I …

The Vine: October 3, 2003
October 3, 2003 · No Comment

Sars oh! unending source of wisdom and mirth,
Looongtime listener, first-time caller. I’d like to lend a little support for my sister Hellspawn. I grew up in fairly strict Protestant household. Very much immersed in the …