Projects

I have a long essay in this month’s Men’s Health, the one with Jamie Foxx on the cover. It’s not specifically about The Nines, but that’s the main reason I agreed to do it. To buy a single-page ad in the magazine would be more than our entire marketing budget. But for a four-page article, they actually pay me.Why Men’s Health, and not Esquire or GQ? MH [vastly outsells](http://www.magazine.org/circulation/circulation_trends_and_magazine_handbook/22175.cfm) them. It outsells Entertainment Weekly. (Hi, Whitney!) Plus, it has a very good chance of hitting the “people who think Ryan Reynolds is awesome” demographic.

The piece I wrote, “My Glorious Defeat,” is about television, student government, and winter driving:

My D.C. debacle, as miserable as it was to live through, has become a cherished memory. It’s a small scar that invites a big story, with big personalities. At first, I framed myself as the innocent victim in the drama, but over the years I came to view the whole thing as more of a hurricane that we all weathered together.

The great thing about surviving a storm is that you’re much better prepared the next time the winds start kicking up. You recognize the early warnings. You stock up on essentials. And, most crucial, you go in knowing that no matter what happens, you can always rebuild.

Failure makes you ready in ways that success never could.

I’m really happy with the article. It feels kind of commencement-addressy, not unlike the [talk on professionalism](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/professional-writing-and-the-rise-of-the-amateur) I gave at Trinity last year.

There’s an [online version](http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=guy.wisdom&category=life.lessons&conitem=03044e632f144110VgnVCM20000012281eac____), though I’m not crazy about the reformatting. If you have any inclination, pick up the print edition. As a bonus, you’ll also get 10 secrets to better abs.