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!

Dispatches
September 20, 2001 · No Comment

I haven’t worked out a coherent essay for today; most of the things on my mind now don’t hang together very well. It’s funny, the things that come to mind at times like these — …

The Vine: September 20, 2001
September 20, 2001 · No Comment

O Wise Sarah,
Should I get a tattoo?And if I do, should I talk to my husband about it first?Sheesh.
Here’s the situation. Firstly, we’re both grown-ups of the late twenties/early thirties variety.I had the thought that …

The Vine: September 19, 2001
September 19, 2001 · One Comment

I met a guy through a personal ad. We emailed and IM’ed each other for a month or so, but because we live about an hour away from each other we didn’t meet until recently. …

The Vine: September 18, 2001
September 18, 2001 · No Comment

Dear Sars,
Okay, I guess I should start by telling you that I’m a huge fan. I actually first came across you at MBTV, because a friend sent me there to read the DC recaps, which …

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 …