i went to louisville for mike and billy’s drag birthday party with madeline and hannah. it was good to get out of town, though perhaps inopportune timing given that there’s a ton of stuff to get done for tour. it was nice to hang out with the louisville kids and to dress like a woman. madeline did far better dressing as a man, despite the last minuteness of her getup. transformed by an emporer cutoff t-shirt, a hyperrealist hat, and a thin, pencilled on mustache, the casualness with which she dropped dudish one-liners was crazy. when she played, as “mad dog”, it was amazing, alternating between dudish song descriptions like “this song is about my car” and her usual amazing playing. the part of the uncle murder ballad #2 where she sings “never shoot at moving things, just feels good in my hand, makes me feel more threatening makes me feel like a man,” made her burst into giggles which was real funny and nice. the party was marked by some akward dancing from me, some crazy sexy dancing from jamie, corey, and shakes, and some even crazier sexy dancing from a cadre of teenaged burlesque girls, and these girls who showed up from nowhere dressed in this amazing hip-hop thug getup. i drove madeline’s car back fast up i-65 and got to work two hours late, seemingly without consequence. i feel groggy now.