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!

Blood and Money: Hill and gone
August 9, 2012 · 10 Comments
<I>Blood and Money</I>: Hill and gone

It’s a classic story: boy meets girl; boy spends an ass-ton of money on a cheesy “music room,” then starts cheating on girl with vixen he met at his kid’s summer camp while girl is …

The Vine: August 8, 2012
August 8, 2012 · 27 Comments
The Vine: August 8, 2012

I’m in need of some advice and I don’t feel comfortable sharing this with anyone in my personal life.
My parents have been married for almost 40 years, and as far as I can tell it’s …

The Vine: August 3, 2012
August 3, 2012 · 25 Comments
The Vine: August 3, 2012

I have a 7-year-old son who is a budding scientist, and he has come up with an idea for an invention. I have researched it, and I don’t think his idea exists in the consumer …

The Vine: August 1, 2012
August 1, 2012 · 33 Comments
The Vine: August 1, 2012

Hi Sars! I’m writing on behalf of my SO and his family/finance frustrations. The set-up to this story is that SO and I live together and have just stumbled into a pretty great opportunity to …

Out With The Crowd: “The AL East is weird this year”
July 28, 2012 · 7 Comments
Out With The Crowd: “The AL East is weird this year”

OWTC celebrates the upcoming trade deadline by talking Yankees baseball with my old friend and lifelong Bombers fan Tim (he’s popped up on TN before as “Omega”). We talked about run differentials, reversions to mean, …

The Vine: July 27, 2012
July 27, 2012 · 42 Comments
The Vine: July 27, 2012

This may be too specific of a question but I thought I’d give it a shot. I would love some advice from your readers about a good dermatologist in the Philadelphia area. I last went …

Suffering Succotash: Live Chat
July 26, 2012 · 15 Comments
<I>Suffering Succotash</I>: Live Chat

Quiz Suffering Succotash author Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic about raisins, tomatoes, and pudding skin TONIGHT! Live chat 8:30 PM ET, Thursday July 26!
The chat window should appear below; it will update to “live” at 8:30 PM ET …

The Vine: July 25, 2012
July 25, 2012 · 8 Comments
The Vine: July 25, 2012

I live in a large apartment building that has two washers and two dryers downstairs in the laundry room. Today, one of the washing machines ate my quarters and jammed without starting up the load. …

TN Read-Along #15: Suffering Succotash
July 25, 2012 · 88 Comments
TN Read-Along #15: <I>Suffering Succotash</I>

“What do you mean raisins ‘don’t totally suck,’ Jacques?”
Just a reminder that this is a couple weeks away! The freebies have gone out, so if you still need a copy, try one of the links …

The Vine: July 20, 2012
July 20, 2012 · 8 Comments
The Vine: July 20, 2012

The Nation may be my last hope in tracking down this long-lost childhood book. Here’s what little I remember: 

The family might have been animals — elephants, maybe? 
The family lived in a house made of cake. 
The little girl …