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!

31 Days, 31 Films
November 29, 2011 · 9 Comments
31 Days, 31 Films

…Because we’re stupid, that’s why.
Okay, seriously: Couch Baron and I decided each to write up one film for every day in December. For him, it’s a way to get a jump on Oscar season; for …

Titicut Follies
November 28, 2011 · 10 Comments
Titicut Follies

The pre-Nixon-era mental hospital is a preoccupying terror of U.S. popular culture to this day. This isn’t without basis; madness, and its attendant visions and rants, is a preoccupation of narratives throughout the world and …

The Vine: November 23, 2011
November 23, 2011 · 65 Comments
The Vine: November 23, 2011

I searched the Vine archives but didn’t find an answer to this gift etiquette question, so here goes: my in-laws’ best friends sent us a large gift for my kiddos (an art easel) that I …

The Vine: November 18, 2011
November 18, 2011 · 23 Comments
The Vine: November 18, 2011

I’ve tried for years to find a YA book that I read and owned back in the late ’80s/early ’90s but I can’t find anything on the interwebs. So now I turn to you and …

TN Read-Along #13: Inside Scientology
November 17, 2011 · 10 Comments
TN Read-Along #13: <I>Inside Scientology</I>

On this episode of the Tomato Nation Read-Along: Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion, by Janet Reitman. It’s available in print and Kindle formats, as well as on audio, which is how …

The Vine: November 16, 2011
November 16, 2011 · 12 Comments
The Vine: November 16, 2011

This is a question about a friend and money.
A coworker and I developed a friendship that was very work-based. We chatted at work, emailed throughout the day, left for staff meeting early to share a …

Whither The Funky Bunch?
November 16, 2011 · 34 Comments
Whither The Funky Bunch?

You know what song you don’t hear much anymore? “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. You do hear it sometimes, like at the nail salon, but you don’t hear it much, because …

Are We Penn State
November 12, 2011 · 80 Comments
Are We Penn State

Then it took a week and a half before the graduate assistant was asked to tell his story to Curley and Gary Schultz, who oversaw the Penn State University police department. And then, the grand …

The Vine: November 11, 2011
November 11, 2011 · 54 Comments
The Vine: November 11, 2011

I need shoes. I’ve been a student for a long time, but now I’m at the point where I can’t wear jeans and running shoes every day. So I need a nice basic pair of …

Phrase Of The Day: “potaper cut”
November 10, 2011 · 7 Comments
Phrase Of The Day: “potaper cut”

potaper cut: n. A paper-cut-esque incision of the finger or knuckle caused by a very crisp potato chip. See also: “tuber-cuticle-osis.”