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Last night I went out for a couple of hours and left Scout in her crate in my room. I returned to find that she had collapsed a wall of the crate, tore a hole through the bedroom door, jumped through that hole, and had pushed open the front screen door to let herself out. My roommate said he tried to grab her but she ran away from him, but that he kept hearing her tags clink so he knew she was close by. I was horrified and terrified, but went outside and called her name and she came right away. She did not get hit by a car, did not get abducted, and did not get lost. But she very well could have.

Cue intensive desensitization and counterconditioning. For the next several weeks, I am only going to let Scout be alone during very limited times in which I will still be in the house, gradually increasing the time until she can do a full 40 minutes without freaking out. Luckily I can bring her with me to work and I can leave her with my brother or neighbor if I need to go somewhere that is not dog friendly. Poor little pup, I am going to help you stay safe.

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Things accomplished in June: 

Ran first 5K in under 10 minutes/mile.

Purchased first car.

Made new best human friend (it's a tier), Brandon.

Got admitted to the New York bar. 

Adopted new best dog friend, Scout.

Not pictured: moved out of parent's basement, interned with the Lexington Mayor, volunteered at local community run folk music radio/tv show. 

Still waiting on full time gainful employment, but in the meanwhile I'm back in Austin mooching off my brother's generosity, which feels less lame than mooching off my parent's generosity. Goals for July include teaching Scout a bunch of tricks, improving running endurance, eating more like this woman, and being more reliable/less flakey. 

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Waiting for the bats

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Chilling at Barton Springs

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The songwriter's hard-won words of hope inspire brotherly compassion in writer Barry Walters.

Love John Grant, love this article. Pale Green Ghosts is so beautiful and sad, but also witty at times--"Don't forget you could be laughing 65% more of the time."

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Amazing.

Isn’t being stuck on the tarmac a drag? Not when you have the Philadelphia Orchestra on board with you. Read more at NPR’s The Two-Way.

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I'm just so impressed.

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Top Ten Albums

I am currently in a school-work purgatory (unclear which side is life and which is...not) in which I have very few things I HAVE to do, but lots of self-induced pressure to spend my time thoughtfully and beneficially. I've been pretty bored. It seems deadlines and stress are essential to my productivity. As such, I've made myself a very lengthy to-do list, and many of the items on that list involve making other lists. Today's item is to list my top ten albums. You know, in case someone asks. 

  1. Sufjan Stevens, Greetings from Michigan. 

My CD collection came to college a few weeks after I did, so music-less, unaware of how Napster worked, and too awkward to make any friends, I was sent this by my friend Evan. It's all I listened to for those weeks and while it did not make me less lonely, it provided a great soundtrack for loneliness wallowing.

2. Paul Simon, Graceland. 

My favorite high school teacher had a little son and thought to call him Sonny, thus no longer able to keep the kitten I gave him. We thought to call him Bitey. 

3. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

I saw Wilco when they were touring for this album and I didn't know the album or Wilco very well. Their performance was so weird and wonderful, and my appreciation grew after finding out about their struggle with their label and their willingness to diverge so much from their pop-y beginnings. 

4. The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

5. Joanna Newsom, The Milk-Eyed Mender

A good friend in college was sad about things not working out with a girl he really liked. I played him Joanna Newsom. Your skin is something that I stir into my tea? Can't be sad with a line like that to mull. He felt better and the world seemed infinite. 

6. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska.

The harmonica alone is enough to make you cry over memories you don't have. I think I had made fun of Born in the U.S.A. and someone made me listen to this. Thanks, someone. I'll never forget you.

7. Elvis Costello, My Aim is True. 

I was so obsessed with the song Alison my junior year of high school. I was suffering from unrequited love something awful, and that song made it seem pretty noble.

8. Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

I was in love with this when it came out, during the height of my "I am going to be a singer" phase (elementary school). I had kind of forgotten about it until a coffee shop in Ann Arbor decided it was going to play the whole album every night during finals. Thanks, coffee shop! 

9. Grateful Dead, American Beauty.

Not at all embarrassed that I was introduced to this album by Freaks and Geeks. 

10. Josh Ritter, Hello Starling.

I skipped senior prom to see Josh Ritter at Oberlin and during that show, I decided to go to college in California. I hesitated to put this album on the list because Josh, like the Beatles or Bob Dylan, is an artist I like so much that it's difficult to parse through individual albums. But this one was the first, and it feels like an old friend.

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Bar Exam Statistics

New York Bar Examination Pass Rates February 2013

New York ABA Schools - First Time Takers 73%

Out-of-State ABA Schools - First Time Takers 76%

All ABA Graduates - First Time Takers 75%

Foreign-Educated - First Time Takers 36%

All Foreign-Educated 30%

All First Time Takers 64%

All Candidates (First Time Takers & Repeaters) 50%

It's sad to know half of the people sitting in the room with me did not pass. But I did! Hooray! Of course, that was 76% likely, according to this. I wish they also broke it down by people who typed their essays and people like me who used a #2 pencil for the whole darn thing. I do not recommend doing that. 

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Austin looking all perty

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via The Story of Stuff Project

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Rob Thomas meets and tries to eat a corgi. Corgi makes it out alive.

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Slackerville: home to many cats and one seemingly non-slacker who repairs amps. 

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My brother, who had emergency heart surgery six weeks ago after suffering an aneurysm and an aortic dissection, stopped taking his pain medication last week. Why? Because, like magic, his sternum has healed! Here he is playing his first gig since the surgery.