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: February 12, 2003
February 12, 2003 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I have a very trivial problem. My husband uses the expression “in terms
of” far too often and, more importantly, incorrectly. Having made an issue
of this, it occurred to me that I wasn’t entirely confident …

The Vine: February 11, 2003
February 11, 2003 · No Comment

Dear Sars:
Normally, I would be cheering you all the way and I love your advice, but right now, I’m so mad I can hardly breathe. I’m furious that you were so flip and rude to …

Thirty-Three Short Phone Calls About Sarah And Regina Losing What’s Left Of Their Minds
February 10, 2003 · No Comment

1
Regina: Hey, you know that guy with theā€¦face? The rat face? From that movie?
Sarah: Jan-Michael Vincent?
Regina: No, no — that guy. The blond rat-faced guy?
Sarah: Big tall blond rat-faced guy, or little scrawny blond rat-faced …

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

Sars —
So I perked up when I read the letter from Piste Off, because I too am a
fencer (foil and sabre) and have been dealing with obnoxious older men for
as long as I can remember, …

The Vine: February 6, 2003
February 6, 2003 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
I love all the grammary goodness in The Vine, and was especially glad
to see you enact the necessary (albeit a little half-hearted)
smackdown to the they-naysayer yesterday.
One thing that the naysayers often overlook is that …

The Vine: February 5, 2003
February 5, 2003 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
I just wanted to point out a really good link to No-Ana (who wrote about her
friend’s spouse and her ED): www.something-fishy.org.
It’s a pro-recovery website for eating disorders and contains a ton of
helpful information. It’s …

The Vine: February 4, 2003
February 4, 2003 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
I’ve got a problem that needs equal parts etiquette and relationship advice. I
have shared an apartment with my friend S for the past two years. We were both
single women, and aside from the occasional …

Blue Skies
February 3, 2003 · 2 Comments

It always comes back to the same things — the fear and the sadness.
I remember Ronald Reagan getting shot. The carpool dropped me off at the bottom of the driveway, and as I hiked up …

The Vine: January 31, 2003
January 31, 2003 · No Comment

Sars!
I’m hoping you can offer me some objective counsel on something
that’s creating a rift at work.
I work at a large (type of business) in a very tightly knit group. Our team
has been together for over …

The Vine: January 30, 2003
January 30, 2003 · No Comment

Hey Sars,
Right now, I am going through a really…interesting…time in my life.
Well, more to the point, an interesting break-up. I met a guy about three
months ago, and it was the casual Hey, I Think You’re …