Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 287

“My biggest goal is to be completely normal. I want to wake up...

“My biggest goal is to be completely normal. I want to wake up in a bed every morning, take a shower, drink a cup of coffee, eat breakfast, and read the paper.”

"I went to jail for ten years, but that’s all behind me."...

"I went to jail for ten years, but that’s all behind me."
“What for?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“It’s your story.”
“….organized crime. Allegedly.”

"I have very dreams. Much dreams. First, learn English."

"I have very dreams. Much dreams. First, learn English."

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“My dad was a Latin musician, so I rebelled against that and...

“My dad was a Latin musician, so I rebelled against that and chose rock and roll. So I wanted to be careful not to try and force my interests on my son, because then he’d go the other direction. So I just took him to the comic book store one day, and told him to look around. Then I bought him a record player, and a bunch of vinyls. And check this out— when I walked into his room the other night, he was reading a comic book, and listening to Van Halen’s first album! That’s my boy!”

“My wife is much more of an intellectual than I am. She actually...

“My wife is much more of an intellectual than I am. She actually had one of her friends read a verse from The Odyssey at our wedding. I prefer comic books. I think it bugged her at first. I never wanted to read the same books as her, and I wasn’t as well spoken, and she’d always correct me when I used double negatives. But I think she came to appreciate that I’m wise in other ways. I think I’m better at reading people, for example. So now she just does her intellectual stuff without me. I’ll cook breakfast in the morning while she goes to the coffee shop and annotates James Joyce. I’m serious. She does it every morning.”

"Who’s influenced you the most in your life?" “My...

"Who’s influenced you the most in your life?"
“My principal, Ms. Lopez.”
“How has she influenced you?”
“When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”

"When you live here, you don’t have too many fears....

"When you live here, you don’t have too many fears. You’ve seen pretty much everything that life can throw at you. When I was nine, I saw a guy get pushed off the roof of that building right there."

"I realize now that my parents are just regular people with...

"I realize now that my parents are just regular people with flaws, and my dad is not a villain. He’s just an asshole."

"How’d you meet?""We were in the same improv class. One...

"How’d you meet?"
"We were in the same improv class. One day she complimented my glasses. Then I complimented her glasses. Then I ran away."