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!

You Can’t Go Home Again
June 18, 1999 · No Comment

To my surprise, I actually survived my fifth-year college reunion. To say that I did not want anything to do with the reunion understates the case rather dramatically; in fact, I actively dreaded this gathering …

Laying The Blame
June 18, 1999 · No Comment

I avoided writing about the Columbine High School shootings for some time, primarily because I didn’t feel I had anything to add to what others had already said. I don’t have children, I’ve never even …

Muttiquette
May 19, 1999 · One Comment

I am a cat person. As a little girl, I didn’t like dogs at all, because I hated loud noises as a little girl, and dogs tend to bark pretty loudly. Now, as an adult, …

Time Is Money
May 19, 1999 · No Comment

Welcome to the Records Department team! As an official Records Assistant, your duties include data processing, information classification, and correspondence management (formerly known as “typing, filing, and stuffing envelopes”), as well as assisting the section …

Speaking Of Less Than Zero
May 19, 1999 · No Comment

The laundry room in my building has a little library. Some thoughtful soul tacked up a couple of shelves by the door, and residents leave books and magazines they no longer want so that others …

Real World New York
May 16, 1999 · No Comment

Last week, Big A and I spent an afternoon together taking pictures. Well, Big A took pictures, and I posed for the pictures, wearing as much black as I possibly could and thinking photogenic thoughts. …

I Want My VH-1
April 19, 1999 · No Comment

If you have cable television, you probably have a “default channel” – the channel you check as soon as you turn on the television, the channel to which you return after fruitless flip-throughs and during …

When Hormones Attack
April 19, 1999 · No Comment

Before I went on the Pill, I used to suffer from mild PMS. I gained a little weight, but only a couple of pounds; I snacked more, but not too much more; I got choked …

Once Upon A Time
April 19, 1999 · No Comment

Once upon a time, on an island where rivers meet the sea, a traveler fitted for adventure in roaring canyons of concrete could find the great city of New York. From across one of the …

Things People Do
March 19, 1999 · No Comment

I admire the actors and actresses in commercials. I frequently find them annoying, but I have to respect their ability to do and say deeply stupid things without betraying a hint of embarrassment or disdain. …