Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 276

“He had a four centimeter tumor removed from the frontal lobe of...

“He had a four centimeter tumor removed from the frontal lobe of his brain. He cries a lot now. He never used to cry, but I’ve probably seen him cry twenty times since the surgery. He always says, ‘You’ll never know what’s happening inside of my head.’ He’s still good with my name, but he’s forgotten a lot of others. He tells the same old stories over and over. He’s best at remembering things that happened a long time ago, so I think he clings to those things.“

“The night before Dad’s brain surgery, he invited about six or...

“The night before Dad’s brain surgery, he invited about six or seven of his friends over, and he called it The Last Supper. The weird thing is— we were sitting at this long wooden table, just like the real thing. Everyone drank a lot. Dad kept talking about dying. He’d act like it was a joke, but then he’d start crying. After dinner, we all watched The Big Lebowski, then everyone went home around 1 AM. He didn’t want to go to sleep after everyone left, so the two of us just sat in the backyard for awhile. We had to be at the hospital at 5 AM. I think he fell asleep at 3:45.”

“She’s much more empathetic than I am. When our son was very...

“She’s much more empathetic than I am. When our son was very sick with cancer, she had a much better sense for what he was going through. And I relied on that. Because I didn’t know, but I wanted to know.”

“I’m trying to instill morals in my three year old son, but I...

“I’m trying to instill morals in my three year old son, but I don’t want him to be afraid of me. We were shopping over the holidays, and he started to run away from me into the crowd, so I yelled at him. And he started crying when we got home and he told his mom that Daddy yelled at him. And that hurt to see. It’s easy to scream first, especially when you think your child is in danger, because you’re looking for that instant stoppage. But afterwards I always try to get on the ground and explain to him that I was just scared for him.”

“I met a man who I wanted to be like. He was professional,...

“I met a man who I wanted to be like. He was professional, independent, married. All that ‘Leave It To Beaver’ shit. I was a bit of a loner at the time, so I really latched on to him. We’d play basketball, and bowl, and go to movies. We’d hang out almost every night. But then at some point he disappeared for two months. So I decided to go looking for him. I went to his house, and knocked, and kept ringing the bell, but nobody was answering. Then finally after a few minutes he opened the door, and the house was filled with smoke, and there were two naked chicks behind him, and I liked what I saw. I didn’t go inside right then, but I thought about if for a couple days, and finally decided to go back. I didn’t try crack until I was forty years old. And I only did it because I was lonely and needed acceptance.”

“I’m a rabbi. But I don’t try to provide any answers. I tell...

“I’m a rabbi. But I don’t try to provide any answers. I tell people what tradition says, and if they find meaning in it, and it works for them, then they are welcome to apply it. If not, we’ll look at other possibilities. I think that every generation has a responsibility to create its own understanding of religion. I believe God can grow as we do. I could be accused of diluting Judaism, but I think that if it has no relevance to people’s lives, Judaism will cease to exist.”

“He’s obsessed with the subway maps. We bought him some to hang...

“He’s obsessed with the subway maps. We bought him some to hang on his wall, and when we walk in his room, he’ll be studying them. He knows all the stops for all the trains. He loves to ask strangers what stop they’re going to, so that he can give them advice.”

“If I could open up my own skate shop, I’d be so happy. Then I...

“If I could open up my own skate shop, I’d be so happy. Then I could do nothing but spread stoke to other riders. I’d like it to be in Puerto Rico. It would have this chill, laid back energy. It would be a no judge zone. You could wear anything. We’d have a tattoo guy chilling in the corner. There’d be crystals, and incense burning everywhere, and a big Buddha somewhere.”

“She’s much more anxious than I am. The way I look at...

“She’s much more anxious than I am. The way I look at things— if the problem is important enough that it will affect us tomorrow, then we need to deal with it. Otherwise, we should let it roll off our shoulders. She thinks that if it’s going to affect our next minute, then it needs to be addressed right now.”

“The biggest piece I’ve ever found. Three quarters of an ounce....

“The biggest piece I’ve ever found. Three quarters of an ounce. July 12th, 2006. Happiest day of my life. I’d been kidding the guys at camp all week, telling them: ‘Today’s the day I’m gonna find the big one.’ Then one morning, I switched to a new position, and I put a hose on one spot and right away I thought I saw something gleaming. So I grabbed it faster than greased lighting and I threw it in my pan, and I heard a ‘THUNK,’ and I knew it was fat. I’m not even going to sell it. It’s not money to me. It’s achievement.”