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!

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 …

Your True-Crime Hall of Fame
July 19, 2012 · 95 Comments
Your True-Crime Hall of Fame

A question for you about true-crime books, even if you don’t think of yourself as reading much true crime: Which books would you put in a true-crime canon? If someone comes to you and asks …

The Vine: July 18, 2012
July 18, 2012 · 24 Comments
The Vine: July 18, 2012

I’m so excited to finally have a Vine question! This seemed perfectly suited for you due to your work with Donors Choose and apparent love of teachers in general.
I graduated from college nearly a decade …

Adventures In Random DVR-Pausing: Word Processaurus
July 17, 2012 · 28 Comments
Adventures In Random DVR-Pausing: Word Processaurus

I laughed for five minutes at the word processor, which is dated even by the contemporary standards — well, “standards” — of the scene. Dylan’s aggro-floof of hair? Nineties. Pajama top worn as unisex/”who cares …

The Vine: July 13, 2012
July 13, 2012 · 25 Comments
The Vine: July 13, 2012

I’m going back to college soon and I’m seriously considering getting an iPad for school. I have never owned an iPad, nor any Apple product aside from my iPhone (which I love because it’s so …