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: May 4, 2001
May 4, 2001 · No Comment

Sarah:
I spent the weekend brooding about a situation with my family, and decided this morning that, first, I am not a vampire with a soul, and, secondly, perhaps writing it out would help. I apologise …

The Vine: May 3, 2001
May 3, 2001 · No Comment

Okay, so here’s the deal. My boyfriend, Sam, and I are getting married. To alleviate any bad circumstances or even the slightest twinge of jealousy, we’ve agreed not to invite any of our exes to …

The Vine: May 1, 2001
May 1, 2001 · No Comment

I’ve gotten too many letters about DeeDee’s dilemma to print them all, ranging from angry rants about how she should turn The Boob in immediately to screeds on harassment that y’all have suffered, and the …

The Vine: April 30, 2001
April 30, 2001 · No Comment

Sars,
One really really important thing that I think you left off is that this eighth grader was at one point wearing a PLAYBOY shirt.  

The Vine: April 27, 2001
April 27, 2001 · No Comment

Hi Sarah,
I have a friend who I’m very worried about. She is 17 like me and has been with her current boyfriend for well over two years, but he treats her as if she is …

The Vine: April 26, 2001
April 26, 2001 · No Comment

Hi Sars,
I have some advice for Amanda S. — try checking out a Unitarian church (Unitarian Universalist in the USA). Okay, this sounds like I’m an evangelical asshole, but bear with me a moment. Unitarianism …

The Vine: April 25, 2001
April 25, 2001 · No Comment

Sars, you are one of the funniest people I know and you give really awesome advice but I gotta say something about that whole “talking at the baseball game” thing. I totally agree that games …

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

In regards to the letter from Manny Ramirez:
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
No, they weren’t in a law library, but all too often I and my friends find ourselves the unwitting “participants” of other people’s conversations. Who is …

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

Dear Sars,
Yesterday, I attended the Red Sox/Yankees game with someone I had never met before, but with whom I had had some previous email conversations. So as you could imagine, we spent a good deal …

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

Dear Sars,
Love your site, especially love The Vine. When I read the letter from “Argh,” all sorts of bells and alarms went off. The fact that she said that she has been diagnosed with ADD …