> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.drewshannon.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# This Week - Jul 19, 2013
- URL: https://www.drewshannon.net/this-week-2013-07-19/
- Published: 2013-07-19T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T03:10:59.000Z
- Author: Drew Shannon
- Tags: link, ask polly, columbia journalism review, daytrotter, guardian uk, jeffrey veen, joel stein, john summers, mike kinsella, music, owen, running, the awl, the baffler, the great discontent, the oatmeal, this week, #import-blog-backlog-2026-09-13

> Not everything should be interactive...But don't make me feel like you expect a return email. Because this takes my assistant four to five hours every week. I know this because my assistant is me.  
>  
> — [Dear reader, please don't email me (Joel Stein)](http://m.guardiannews.com/media/2007/jan/08/mondaymediasection13?ref=drewshannon.net)

> John Summers sat in a bar in Cambridge, MA, and counted off all the ways he was unfit for the job...It’s a résumé that would disqualify Summers from working at most magazines. But most magazines aren’t The Baffler, which could be described as the country’s foremost journal of superfluous opinion.  
>  
> — [Unconventional Wisdom (Columbia Journalism Review)](http://www.cjr.org/feature/unconventional%5Fwisdom.php?page=all&ref=drewshannon.net) (*I really like the idea that some people can be 'wrong' for so many things, yet so completely right for something else.)*

> I am hesitant to say, 'Follow your passion,' because I don’t believe in that. It has to be something that you are also good at and that the world finds valuable. I would love to go cycling all day, but the world does not find that valuable to the degree that I’m good at it (laughing). If you get really, really good at something, then it will almost certainly turn into your passion.  
>  
> — [Jeffrey Veen (The Great Discontent)](http://thegreatdiscontent.com/jeffrey-veen?ref=drewshannon.net)

> When he sings, 'Those rusty pipes do nothing but complain,' he's not only referring to the pipes. The people that he draws into these soggy lives are too tired to put up too much of a fight. They aren't going to roll over, but they're grizzled enough to know that it's better to just silently sop up the flooded basement, rip out the carpet if you have to, replace that tire with a scribble on a check and just ready one's self for the next time it will inevitably happen.  
>  
> — [Owen's Incredible Daytrotter Session (Music)](http://www.daytrotter.com/?ref=drewshannon.net#!/concert/owen/20056774-110540)

> Don't be a baked potato. Be a person".  
>  
> — [The Oatmeal on Running](http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running?ref=drewshannon.net)