Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 299

Just received one of those amazing phone calls that you’ll...

Just received one of those amazing phone calls that you’ll always remember. For a book from last year to even make the list is unbelievable. You guys are amazing, thank you so much. Just so thrilled by this.

"I work in the family business, which is tough. There’s...

"I work in the family business, which is tough. There’s too much overlap. It can be hard to work together when you’re still sore over something that was said at Thanksgiving."

"I was never a good corporate animal. I lost a couple jobs. I...

"I was never a good corporate animal. I lost a couple jobs. I could never keep my mouth shut."

"My birthday is coming."

"My birthday is coming."

"I always remember my mom having this hardness to her. Even if...

"I always remember my mom having this hardness to her. Even if you were at the other end of the house, you could feel her presence. Not like a monster, but kinda. She needed everything to be just a certain way. She’d arrange the towels perfectly and didn’t want anyone messing them up. She’d keep these detailed notes on money, and daily activities, and even her bowel movements. It was a diary of her anxieties. She always needed everything to be just a certain way, and she always had such a hard tone to her voice. But I loved her. I remember walking into her room shortly before she died. She was curled up in bed because she had very bad scoliosis, and she looked so small and vulnerable. And next to her on the nightstand was a picture of her as a little girl, standing with her mother. And it made me sad, because I knew that little girl had never wanted to grow up to be a ball of anxiety.”

"My dad had bladder cancer. He spent the final weeks of his life...

"My dad had bladder cancer. He spent the final weeks of his life in a lot of pain. I remember one moment when he was lying on the couch, with less than a month to live, and my mom was in the kitchen trying to balance the checkbook. And she couldn’t figure out where this one check came from. And she kept asking him about it. And he kept saying he didn’t know. And she kept pushing him about this check, with this weird insistence, like it was the most important thing in the world, even though he was dying. I remember thinking that it was representative of their whole relationship. And my entire life."

"I’ve been feeling a bit unaccomplished lately. I recently...

"I’ve been feeling a bit unaccomplished lately. I recently met a kid in his twenties who figured out a way to power lights in rural India by generating electricity from human shit."

"I constantly worry if I’m doing OK with my boys. I spent...

"I constantly worry if I’m doing OK with my boys. I spent the entire weekend with headphones on, working on a paper for graduate school, instead of spending time with them. I’m doing all this so that one day I’ll earn enough to send them to college. But at the same time, they need help with their reading now."

"I’m a city council member.""What do you most hope to...

"I’m a city council member."
"What do you most hope to accomplish as a city council member?"
"My main goal is to even the playing field for minority and woman owned businesses. There are $20 billion worth of contracts given out by the city every year. Of those contracts, only 3% go to companies owned by minorities and women."

"What’s your biggest goal in life?""Getting my family out...

"What’s your biggest goal in life?"
"Getting my family out of the projects. I can’t do it on eight dollars an hour though. But there aren’t any other jobs out there. Either that, or I can’t get to them."
"What’s your biggest weakness?"
"Alcohol. I spend more money on that than anything else. I’m about to go to rehab."
"Why do you drink?"
"Because I enjoy it, because I get bored, because I get frustrated. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. I was sober for two years. But the day I got my job, I was so happy, I decided to celebrate with a beer."