It’s April. Did you get pranked on the first? My friend did, by a Waymo. The car told its riders to start humming to help the vehicle “calibrate” before the ride could start. Ha. Ha.

Here’s the Monday Letter for April 6th, 2026.

Line Dancing

Line dancing is one of the best new things I’ve been doing this year. Every Sunday night, I stroll down to Lower Haight to join friends at the aptly named Lower Haight Line Dancing ("LHLD" from here on out, because that’s a mouthful). From 6 to 10pm, a handful of instructors run a line dancing class out of their garage, and it’s an absolute blast. There’s a great crowd, the dances are a ton of fun, and the song choices are great too.

As an Albertan, country bars and line dancing are a core part of the cultural makeup. In middle school, the go-to was always “Cadillac Ranch.” (I looked it up and the first result was a tutorial from the Calgary Stampede organizers, so yeah, Albertan.) I love a good country bar, but that part of my identity faded a bit when I moved to the Pacific Northwest for college. In San Francisco, on paper, it should’ve faded even more, but LHLD has let me really dive back in. I still don’t know of any good country bars in the city. Do not suggest Westwood. But LHLD is arguably even better than a bar.

I must admit: Cadillac Ranch is nothing compared to what I’ve had to pick up from LHLD so far. The dances range in difficulty, and some can be quite tricky. The first few times I went, I was mostly lost. Eventually, you start to string together the basic steps (I’ve learned a whole new vocabulary: sailor step, jazz box, coaster step, grapevine, scuff, hitch, k-step, v-step, kick-ball-change!) and now think about the dances at a higher level. No longer left-foot here, right-foot there. Now: sailor, scuff, then grapevine. It get easier.

If you’re looking for something new to do this spring: line dancing. It’s fun, it’s everywhere, it’s local, and it’s social. I can’t say enough good things.

And what I’ve been up to.

• I watched 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), and it was awesome. It made me nostalgic for the early 2000s, somehow (I guess I have fond memories of being a toddler?).
• I enjoyed this blog post, *The machines are fine. I'm worried about us,* by Minas Karamanis. I stumbled across it through Hacker News. I share some similar sentiments, but I’m not sure I completely agree. I might try to throw together a kind-of rebuttal in time. (There’s surely a case to be made for AI as a teaching aid, instead of a crutch, having a tremendous impact on learning globally.)
• I’m watching a lot of Breaking Bad. I know I’m a bit late to the party. It was inspired by reading Chuck Klosterman’s essay "I Will Choose Free Will" about the new golden age of TV. Next up: The Wire, Mad Men, and The Sopranos (which I’ve seen a bit of already).
• This week at work, I’m “on aux.” I get to control what’s played in the bathroom (a long-time Notion tradition). Here is my playlist if you’re curious; suggestions welcome. I’m determined to get every genre in there, somehow.
• I saw Dave at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA and it was great. I channeled my inner Alex.