Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 269

"I’ll tell my wife to look for me on the internet."

"I’ll tell my wife to look for me on the internet."

“Many years ago I had a martial arts master from Korea. It was...

“Many years ago I had a martial arts master from Korea. It was just like in the movies—he’d make me do crazy things like carry buckets of water up flights of stairs. He was very unaccepting of apathy. I was young at the time, so when he’d asked me a question, I’d often answer by shrugging, or saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I guess.’ Then one day, he told me: ‘You never give me straight answer. Your life is too complicate. I make simple for you. Do you want to be weak or strong?’
I said, ‘Strong.’
‘Do you want to be slow or fast?’
‘Fast.’
‘Do you want to be smart or stupid?’
‘Smart.’
‘Do you want to be alive or dead?’
‘Alive.’
‘You shrug one more time, you’ll want to be dead.’”

“She beautifies my disillusioned brain. She’s like my fairy...

“She beautifies my disillusioned brain. She’s like my fairy godmother. For the last fifteen years, she’s called me every morning, and she makes me repeat after her: ‘This is the best day of my life. I’m a genius. I love people and people love me. I never criticize, condemn, or complain. Everyone I meet today is loving and respectful. I love God and God loves me.’”

"I only wear my own dresses. Whenever I sit, I knit."

"I only wear my own dresses. Whenever I sit, I knit."

“I have a very clear memory from just a few weeks after I was...

“I have a very clear memory from just a few weeks after I was born. I was lying in a basket and people were making funny faces at me—like they do to children. And I remember thinking in my head: ‘What stupid creatures.’ Only I didn’t know how to express those thoughts until I got older.”

"No regrets."

"No regrets."

“My mom was always the nervous one. She was the worrier. They...

“My mom was always the nervous one. She was the worrier. They had fights about how to raise me, because my dad thought I was invincible and that I could do anything. My mother wanted me to understand my limitations, and to know that some things could not be overcome. She wasn’t as exciting as my dad. But she was the one that made sure I took all my medications, and got all my medical supplies, and kept every appointment to get my esophagus stretched. She was the one that always drove me to the hospital, and kept track of my entire medical history so that she could tell it to every new doctor we had. And if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

“After I was born, I was the subject of a 45-minute dissertation...

“After I was born, I was the subject of a 45-minute dissertation at Columbia University. Almost all of my organs were born externally, and had to be sewn into my body. I don’t have a belly button— only a scar where my feeding tube used to be. My mother even tells me that she wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to stand, eat, or drink. But now I can rollerblade. I can do a handstand on my crutches. I’ve got a core group of friends, a girlfriend, a college degree, and I’m helping to manage a radio station at the age of 23.”

Big news. We’ve got our first 100% confirmed HONY romance! I...

Big news. We’ve got our first 100% confirmed HONY romance! I photographed Alex about eight months ago while he was rollerblading through midtown. Apparently, after seeing the post on HONY, Jordan sent him a Facebook message saying: “I can’t even rollerblade on two legs.” Intrigued by Jordan’s eloquence, Alex arranged a meeting and they spent a day together. They’ve been dating ever since. I was lucky enough to run into them on the street a few days ago, and they told me the entire story. We were even close enough to our original meeting spot to go back and recreate the original photograph.

Seeing The Future

Seeing The Future