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: May 6, 2011
May 6, 2011 · 12 Comments
The Vine: May 6, 2011

I’m hoping the TN readers can help me ID a short story I read back in the (brace yourself) 1960s.
I’m 99% certain I read it in one of the Childcraft books — we had …

The Contest 2011: Prizing
May 6, 2011 · 6 Comments
The Contest 2011: Prizing

The Tomato Nation Contest isn’t just about raising a big heap o’ money for public schools and feeling the warming glow of good deeds, ohhhh no. It’s also about loot — lots and lots of …

The Crushed Film Festival presents: Taps
May 5, 2011 · 18 Comments
The Crushed Film Festival presents: <I>Taps</I>

The Movie: Taps
The Crush Object: Timothy Hutton
The Story: Brian Moreland (Hutton), a rising senior at Bunker Hill Military Academy, has just gotten a promotion to head cadet; he even got to sip brandy and shoot …

The Vine: May 4, 2011
May 4, 2011 · 24 Comments
The Vine: May 4, 2011

I am hoping you can give me some advice regarding arranging for the disposition of my father’s remains.
My father was an alcoholic, and I had not had any contact with him or any knowledge …

TN Read-Along #9: Reality Bites Back Live Chat
May 4, 2011 · 2 Comments
TN Read-Along #9: <I>Reality Bites Back</I> Live Chat

Remember, we go live at 9 PM ET tonight — Wednesday 4 May — with a Q&A with author Jennifer L. Pozner. Bring questions, comments, and critiques of Chris Harrison!
The chat window will appear just …

Day Saved: Thanks, Giving Pages!
May 3, 2011 · 7 Comments
Day Saved: Thanks, Giving Pages!

I’m excited to announce that all Giving Page jefes who raised money for the Save The Day leaderboard will receive a $10 DonorsChoose.org gift code! If you produced even a buck for the Red Planet, …

Dueling Dragon Fists Triple Feature
May 3, 2011 · 7 Comments
Dueling Dragon Fists Triple Feature

I lost track of Duel of the Iron Fist‘s plot about halfway through; I understood that Tuberculosis Guy had betrayed the hero, but only because the shot set-ups made it obvious from the moment he …

Bin Laden In Heaven
May 2, 2011 · 62 Comments
Bin Laden In Heaven

 
Osama bin Laden is in heaven.
Upon his death, bin Laden went to heaven, as he’d expected to, a warrior of righteousness claiming his longed-for reward. An archangel escorted him to a large, lavishly appointed salon, …

Day Saved: What’s Next?
May 2, 2011 · 5 Comments
Day Saved: What’s Next?

Once again: $154,136. 1,374 donors. 138,709 students reached. Consider that tall building leapt.
Next up, of course, is the prizing phase. That takes a few days to set up for, so stay tuned to the homepage …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #9: Reality Bites Back
May 1, 2011 · 17 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #9: <I>Reality Bites Back</I>

So sorry for the delay in announcing our next book, but we’ll be reading Jennifer L. Pozner’s Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV. It’s available in paperback, as well as for …