Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 259

“When I was a kid, I’d always wanted to be a writer. I even...

“When I was a kid, I’d always wanted to be a writer. I even made a go of it when I was younger. I moved to California in my twenties, and tried to make it work. I almost sold a screenplay. I traveled around a bunch, and worked odd jobs, but by the time I hit my thirties, I said: ‘That’s it.’ And I went into the insurance business. I worked for a wonderful company—the one with the duck. But September 11th really shook me up. A couple days before, I’d flown out of the same airport as one of the hijacked planes. I hadn’t written anything in seventeen years, but I thought: ‘Win, lose, or draw, I’ve got to try this one more time.’ So at the age of 51, I became a writer again.’”

“I achieved my first goal, which was playing pro soccer. I...

“I achieved my first goal, which was playing pro soccer. I played for three years in France. Now I’m achieving my second goal, which is to coach kids. My first coaching job was at an elementary school that never had a soccer team before. We lost our first game 2 – 1. But the kids were so excited when we scored our goal that they ran off the field. I had to chase them down and tell them that the game wasn’t over. Then on the bus ride home, everyone was so excited they could barely sit in their seats. When we got back to school, the kids were so happy getting off the bus that their parents thought we’d won the game. That moment was everything to me.”

“I had a friend ask me to borrow money recently, and then he...

“I had a friend ask me to borrow money recently, and then he turned around and acted like it had been a gift. That really hurt me, because I’d given that money from my heart. I actually put a thumbtack on that day in my calendar. That was the day that I decided to narrow my inner circle. Now I focus all my energy on the people who want nothing from me but my time. Mainly my daughter, and the kids that I coach on my soccer team.”

“Schools have really shifted their focus to testing, and music...

“Schools have really shifted their focus to testing, and music has really become more of an extracurricular activity. It’s almost treated like a sport. My class used to last almost an hour. Now it’s down to thirty minutes. By the time the kids get seated and settled, we’re almost out of time. It’s a shame, because music helps to teach focus and discipline. You really have to commit to an instrument to master it. There seems to be more of a ‘popcorn mentality’ among students today. As soon as something gets difficult, they’re onto something else.”

“I’m a consultant, but the clock’s ticking down until...

“I’m a consultant, but the clock’s ticking down until retirement. You get 35 years of recognition for doing something, and you see that coming to an end, and it forces you to think about your legacy. I’ll miss the constant feeling of solving problems and adding value. I get that feeling from my family, of course, but I worry about falling out of my routines. I’m afraid I’ll revert back to my twenties, when I was reading a lot but not doing very much. My wife is planning all sorts of hobbies to keep me busy. She intends for me to become an expert at cooking and gardening.”

Today in microfashion…

Today in microfashion…

“I work for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Right now I’m...

“I work for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Right now I’m trying to think of ways to create safe public spaces for women and children in developing countries. Our ultimate goal is gender equality. But in some places, women are afraid to go outside. This keeps them from accessing basic services and participating in civic life. The problem needs to be worked on from many different angles. But my background is in architecture and urban planning, so I’m working on improving street lighting, installing urban furniture, and upgrading empty lots.”

“I’m attending a programmers’ retreat right now. I’m working...

“I’m attending a programmers’ retreat right now. I’m working on an app that will hopefully provide some useful visualizations of how British politicians vote on certain bills. I feel like programming is the closest thing we have to magic. It allows you to create things with words.”

“I’m just trying to stay in New York. I’ve lived here for six...

“I’m just trying to stay in New York. I’ve lived here for six years now, and I’ve been close to going home many times. But every time I think it’s not going to work, an opportunity arises that allows me to keep going. Recently I was at a low point, and I decided to join an acting company in Brooklyn. There are 55 of us. We put on plays, do shows, and make movies. It’s very much a community and we hold each other to a standard. My work ethic is better than it’s been in six years. We rehearse every day, submit a lot of resumes, and go to a lot of auditions. We all have the same goal: we want to stay in New York.”

“We met 25 years ago in an English class. There are normally...

“We met 25 years ago in an English class. There are normally four of us together. I’m from Russia. She’s from Azerbaijan. The Moldovan and the Ukrainian couldn’t make it.”