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!

For Thou Art With Us
September 14, 2001 · 239 Comments

I didn’t really want to go downtown in the first place. I had to speak on a breakfast panel, but I didn’t feel very well and I didn’t like my outfit so much, and I …

The Vine: September 6, 2001
September 6, 2001 · No Comment

I work in magazine publishing in a major minor city — my job is the only one of its kind in the city, although there are other publishing companies. I have been unhappy at work …

The Vine: September 5, 2001
September 5, 2001 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
Is there anything I can do about people throwing in useless phrases in their speech? It drives me nuts when people preface every sentence with “To be honest” or “Frankly.” It implies that for …

A Four-Letter Word
September 1, 2001 · 55 Comments

Slut — 1: a slovenly woman : SLATTERN 2a: a lewd woman; esp : PROSTITUTE b: a saucy girl : MINX
Ah, “slut.” A compact little word, forceful even in the way it sounds, starting out …

The Vine: August 29, 2001
August 29, 2001 · No Comment

Sarah,
I was hoping you could help me out. I am traveling to New York this weekend on a sort of mini-vacation, but never having been, I am lacking on “local” information. When I travel, I …

The Vine: August 28, 2001
August 28, 2001 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
In re: Confused and Sort of Scared — shouldn’t she save and/or print email from “John” as a record of contact (in case she needs it as evidence for the police), instead of deleting …

The Vine: August 24, 2001
August 24, 2001 · No Comment

Sars,
Hoping you can help with this, but it helps just to rant for a bit.
Why is it that EVERY female on the planet is hooking up except me?
No, I know, you hear that all the …

The Vine: August 23, 2001
August 23, 2001 · No Comment

Bulimia I know. Very very well.
I started when I was 16, ended when I was 29, and every step of the way was hard-fought. I’ve been free of the monster for six years, and it’s …

This American Life
August 20, 2001 · No Comment

I came into the world a United States citizen, a daughter and granddaughter and great-granddaughter of United States citizens. I remain a United States citizen, and for the most part, I enjoy my United States …

Pack Rats
August 20, 2001 · No Comment

It’s not a good day today. The weather is vintage August in New York — going outside feels like a cross between draping myself in a wet blanket fresh from an autoclave and taking that …