She was skinny, quick-witted, disarmingly unprofessional, alternating between stand-up patter, bardic intonations, and the hypnotic emotional sway of a chanteuse, and she was sexy in an androgynous way I hadn’t encountered before. The elements cohered convincingly; she seemed both entirely new and somehow long-anticipated. For me at nineteen, the show was an epiphany.

Luc Sante on Patti Smith.

Springtime 1976, I was living in the cinderblock building on the glorified median strip there where they split Highway 13, and one day I went over to this one girl’s apartment, she lived right by the guy who dealt me speed, and she said, “Hey, you know who you remind me of? You remind me of Patti Smith!”

Gave her a possum grin I’m still grinning.

Take a bill or some coins and put the money in a plastic bag. The amount does not matter. Bury it outside your front door while saying, “I am burying my poverty.” Mark it with a stone or something you can find the next day. Seriously, people have not been able to find their buried money the next day. Do this on New Year’s Eve, before midnight. Then, on January 1, dig up the money while saying, “I am uncovering my wealth.” Do this anytime during the 24-hour period on New Year’s Day.

If you don’t have ground outside your door, not to worry, take a pot and bury your money there and place it outside your door or on the balcony. If that doesn’t work, take a bowl and cover the money with a wash cloth and put it beside the door. This is about symbolism and intent. Do not spend the money, ever. Put it away. Some say that if you spend the buried money, you’ll lose money.

If you follow these instructions, unexpected money will show up for you in the next year. Maybe because I believe, this always happens for me. Always. At least in the years the Iowan has not found, and spent, my buried money. I have heard about people who eventually have taken stacks of buried money and donated it to a good cause. For instance, they have donated it to a church or favorite charity and report all is well.

Or you could leave it tucked away in its individual sandwich bags in a hope chest or drawer. And laugh to think about what your heirs will think to find it.

My friend Ed’s family went on road trips every summer, and they camped. I recall Ed telling me that for a while his little brother, Tom, had a pit toilet fixation. Tom just ached to know what all was down there.

It looks like Beavis and Butt-Head are back:

The below footage prepared for Mike Judge’s Comic-Con panel is pure fan service, featuring the return of Cornholio and plenty of idiotic double- and single-entendres, while the characters remain unchanged right down to Stewart’s Winger shirt (a joke that will probably be lost on younger audiences, but screw them). Pretty much the only sign that this was made in 2011: As a reflection of MTV’s near-total banishment of the music video, the duo now also comments on UFC fights, movies such as Twilight, and, of course, MTV reality shows like 16 And Pregnant, Teen Mom, and—as seen here—Jersey Shore.

How do I feel about this?

(thanks, Josh)

“Common yarrow [Achillea millefolium] is frequently found in the mildly disturbed soil of grasslands and open forests.”

I snipped my yarrow at midnight by the light of the moon, standing in grasses up to my chin.

Other names for yarrow are devil’s nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, and soldier’s woundwort.

I especially like sanguinary, as one traditional use of yarrow is the stanching of wounds. When I got my yarrow indoors under lamplight, I noticed that one of the blossom clusters was tinged with something that looked like a blood clot.

Which makes the odd splotch on my chin in this mobile phone photo all the more interesting to me.