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!

Save The Day: April 13
April 13, 2011 · 11 Comments
Save The Day: April 13

5:30 PM update
Lean into it, y’all: $85,974, and Vanessa has a lot of cool stuff going on (scroll down) if you can help her Giving Page out.
9 AM update
$84,797 — 85K is nigh. I believe …

Save The Day: April 12
April 12, 2011 · 6 Comments
Save The Day: April 12

4:30 PM update, with snoozing visual aids Mabel (L) and “Little” Joe (R)
$83,738! And my tax refund arrived in the mail today, so in addition to giving away shirts (explained below), I’d also like to …

The Crushed Film Festival presents: Practical Magic
April 11, 2011 · 31 Comments
The Crushed Film Festival presents: <I>Practical Magic</I>

The Movie: Practical Magic
The Crush Object: Goran Visnjic
The Story: Sally and Gillian Owens (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, respectively) struggle with their family legacy. Not only do they come from a long line of witches, …

Save The Day: April 11
April 11, 2011 · 10 Comments
Save The Day: April 11

1 PM update
80K is in sight, everyone — $79,007!
Got $20 you’d like to finish off a project with? Check out Ann D.’s mini-prizes (just scroll down)! It’s a gratifying way to help out for not …

Save The Day: April 10
April 10, 2011 · 2 Comments
Save The Day: April 10

7:30 PM update
$74,892 — so close to 75K and another match! Outstanding push, weekend crew; I’m very pleased.
Don’t forget that you still have several hours to qualify for this weekend’s spring shopping prize-travaganza — shirts, …

Save The Day: April 9
April 9, 2011 · 4 Comments
Save The Day: April 9

10 AM update
$70,912 — great work! Thanks again to Charmaine for that rad promotion, and all her hard work. And at 75K, we have $2,500 more coming in. I have no doubt we can polish …

The Vine: April 8, 2011
April 8, 2011 · 10 Comments
The Vine: April 8, 2011

I’m looking for the title of a young-adult book. It takes place in Copenhagen, either during or right after WWII. A girl and her mother have fallen on hard times, and need to rent out …

Save The Day: April 8
April 8, 2011 · 25 Comments
Save The Day: April 8

2:30 PM update
$68,165 — great job! And big huge thanks to the M. clan for the 1K match: M. Giant, M. Edium, and Trash. M. Edium even pimped DonorsChoose.org to his playdate! That’s what I’m …

Squared Up: Rainout Theater
April 7, 2011 · 43 Comments
Squared Up: Rainout Theater

(“…Poot!”)
As much as I love spring baseball, because it’s baseball and thank God and can we all please stop talking about stupid college basketball please?, it does rain a lot in the spring, so I …

Save The Day: April 7
April 7, 2011 · 14 Comments
Save The Day: April 7

10 PM update
$64,834 at the moment; almost 3K on the day! It’s tough to sustain that initial pace, and anecdotal evidence suggests to me that some of you still have paychecks to wait for and …