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: August 10, 2011 Special Edition
August 16, 2011 · 96 Comments
The Vine: August 10, 2011 Special Edition

16 August update
Happy Elvis deathiversary, everyone. These tales have been great, hilarious, and super-helpful. I’d like to hear even MORE stories from you guys, specifically about any issues you may have had around the following:

when …

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 19: Boulder, CO to Lincoln, NE
August 15, 2011 · 4 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 19: Boulder, CO to Lincoln, NE

I got a perfect country night’s sleep and woke up at 6:30 AM, unprompted. I actually swung my feet to the ground, yawned, and stretched. I never do that. I’m out of bed with my …

TN Read-Along #11: Dolly: My Life Discussion Thread
August 15, 2011 · 10 Comments
TN Read-Along #11: <I>Dolly: My Life</I> Discussion Thread

So sorry to post this late, folks! Let’s get talking. Any surprises in the book for you? Do like Dolly even more now, after reading, or somewhat less?

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 18: Rock Springs, WY to Boulder, CO
August 15, 2011 · 5 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 18: Rock Springs, WY to Boulder, CO

Jay told me the day before about a little Siamese that wandered into his room a few times. When I got up and pulled my curtains back, I saw her in a sunbeam in front …

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 17: Elko, NV to Rock Springs, WY
August 14, 2011 · 19 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 17: Elko, NV to Rock Springs, WY

There are two kinds of women in the world: the kind who are like, “Sam Elliott? He’s a pretty good actor, I liked him in that Cher movie,” and the kind who would knock you …

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 16: San Francisco, CA to Elko, NV
August 13, 2011 · 5 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 16: San Francisco, CA to Elko, NV

Couch Baron and I parted ways at around 10:30 AM, he to the airport, I to find a post office that, if it exists, is in a Macy’s and I never found it. Back to …

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 15: San Francisco, CA
August 11, 2011 · 5 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 15: San Francisco, CA

I hadn’t let myself dwell on it, because what good would it have done except to paralyze me, but a part of me believed I wouldn’t get to California, that I would end up towed …

Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 14: Reno, NV to San Francisco, CA
August 9, 2011 · 30 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour II, Day 14: Reno, NV to San Francisco, CA

A man from Fresno quizzed me in the parking lot, not about the car, but about whether I’d come all that way by myself. “Courage…courage,” he said. I hadn’t thought of it that way…or not …

Dog Days of Summer Movies: A Summer in Genoa
August 9, 2011 · 5 Comments
Dog Days of Summer Movies: <I>A Summer in Genoa</I>

by Sarah D. Bunting
Playing a game in the car, 9-year-old Mary (Perla Haley-Jardine) covers her 16-year-old sister Kelly’s (Willa Holland) eyes. Then she covers her mother’s eyes for a minute, as a joke — but …

Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 13: Elko, NV to Reno, NV
August 8, 2011 · 13 Comments
Big Country Little Car Tour, Day 13: Elko, NV to Reno, NV

I stopped at a CVS on the way out of town to restock on sunscreen and snacks — a warehouse-size store with slot machines by the checkout. At ten in the morning, most of the …