Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 272

“I made a painting inspired by a photo that a girl sent me of...

“I made a painting inspired by a photo that a girl sent me of her masturbating. But my parents are visiting, and I don’t want them to see it. I feel like as an artist I need to express my truest thoughts. But at the same time, hiding those thoughts seems necessary to maintaining normal relationships.”

"It’s our first time out this year."

"It’s our first time out this year."

“I just went to the International Children’s Film Festival, and...

“I just went to the International Children’s Film Festival, and it was all sold out, but one lady had an extra ticket and just gave it to me! Can you believe that? That’s a $13 ticket! It was a Japanese anime film, everything was hand painted. It was just the best. Look at those sunflowers in that window. Aren’t they gorgeous? Photograph me next to them!”

"When I was six years old, I had a vision where I saw everything...

"When I was six years old, I had a vision where I saw everything that was going to happen in my life. Jesus showed me that my life was going to be very tough, but if I stuck with him, and prayed, and cried when I needed to, and ate lots of chocolate, I’d be OK."
"Where were you when you had this vision?"
"At the feet of my foster mother. She was kicking me in the stomach."

“I was working as a correction officer at Rikers Island, but I...

“I was working as a correction officer at Rikers Island, but I was having money problems. My child support had just been increased, and after all the payments were taken out, nothing was left. I remember getting a check one time for $39. So I began to make some bad decisions. Inside of prison, a single cigarette can sell for $50. Not a pack. A single cigarette. So I started smuggling in contraband and selling it to the prisoners. Pretty soon I had a whole operation going. I did it for years. At times, I was making hundreds of dollars a day. But they caught me. One day I arranged to meet with an inmate’s family to set up a deal, and it ended up being a sting. I went to prison for two years, as an inmate.”

"Whenever he’s feeling stressed about work, I do an...

"Whenever he’s feeling stressed about work, I do an imitation of our bulldog’s ‘I want chicken’ face."

"I lost my flag the other night, so I just went back to all my...

"I lost my flag the other night, so I just went back to all my favorite bars until I found it!"

“I wish I’d had more of an instinct for expressing love to my...

“I wish I’d had more of an instinct for expressing love to my wife when I was younger. It was so much simpler than I realized. It can be as simple as, ‘Honey, I’m going to make myself some coffee, would you like some too?’ Or: ‘Do you need me to help put those groceries away?’”

"This better not be for a porno. I stopped doing those.""OK,...

"This better not be for a porno. I stopped doing those."
"OK, Mother. That’s enough."

"We’re going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.""What...

"We’re going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house."
"What do you do at Grandma and Grandpa’s house?"
"Anything I want."