Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 322

Little Humans goes on sale on October 7th, which is ONE WEEK...

Little Humans goes on sale on October 7th, which is ONE WEEK from today. Little Humans is also known colloquially as “The HONY Kids’ Book,” and “The HONY Book For Adults Who Prefer Kids’ Books.” All the best kid portraits from the last few years are in there, along with— if you’ll allow me to quote the marketing department — “a heartwarming ode to little humans everywhere.” Little Humans is less than $10 online, and should be shipping any day now from online retailers. 

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/WPMamU
BARNES AND NOBLE: http://bit.ly/1eawvWE
INDIEBOUND: http://bit.ly/1zA0Sw6

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For everyone who lives around NYC, or plans to be in New York during October, a few public events which have been scheduled locally around the book launch:

I’m going to be giving a speech on October 7th at the 92nd St. Y, which is officially billed as a “Launch Event for Little Humans,” but seeing that I have an hour to talk, will most likely take the form of a general discussion about the history and process behind HONY. I enjoy telling HONY’s history and demonstrating the work, so we’ll have fun. This event is ticketed— it’s $40 I think, which is a bit rich, but 100% of the money goes to support the Y’s community programs. (And some of the ticket price can be put toward a purchase of Little Humans.) Unfortunately I just learned that most of the tickets were sold before I could make the announcement, and there are only about 300 left. Those tickets are available here: http://bit.ly/1xB60S5

A free, more ‘easily attendable’ event will be the book signing at Union Square Barnes and Noble on October 11th, which begins at 2 PM. This event was a lot of fun last year with the launch of the adult book. Since this is a children’s book, we’ll keep it fun and playful. We scheduled it on the weekend so you can bring the kids and dogs, though I’m not sure dogs are allowed in the bookstore, so you may want to disguise them as kids. For those of you with tickets to Comic Con, I will also be speaking there at on October 12th at 3:15 PM. Then October 18th, at 4:00 PM, I’ll be doing a talk/signing at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn. Last year, the final Powerhouse signing was the most unhurried and intimate event, though this year it might not be because I just said it would be. We also scheduled that signing during the weekend, because it would be awesome to have little humans at the Little Humans book signing.

Whew! That post took two cups of coffee.

"We lived in different cities when we first met, and once a...

"We lived in different cities when we first met, and once a month he’d come to visit me. The first time he made the trip, I woke up at 2 AM, and he was singing outside my window with three guitar players. There was a popular song back then called ‘Gema,’ and he changed it to my name, ‘Gena.’"
"Can you remember the words?"
"Eres la gema que Dios convirtiera en mujer para bien de mi vida. 
Por eso quise cantar y gritar que te quiero mujer consentida.”
[You are the gem that God turned into woman to make my life better.
Thats why I want to sing and shout that I love you, beautiful woman.]”

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"She taught me how to dance. We actually met at a graduation...

"She taught me how to dance. We actually met at a graduation party. I was the only one not on the dance floor, and her friend bet her that she couldn’t get me to dance. I’d already said ‘no’ to ten girls, but she talked me into it. We were together 55 years. She died eight years ago, but I still dance every day."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"After my last child left the house, it really hit home that at...

"After my last child left the house, it really hit home that at the end of every life is loneliness." 

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"I think all the pressure that I put on myself has been...

"I think all the pressure that I put on myself has been paralyzing. When I graduated from high school, a lot of people wrote in my yearbook: ‘You’re going to do great things,’ or ‘I know you’re going to make it big.’ I realized recently that with all the time I spent trying to figure out what my ‘big thing’ was going to be, I passed over a lot of small things that could have really added up. The moment I became content with taking small steps, I started moving forward again."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"I think all the pressure that I put on myself has been...

"I think all the pressure that I put on myself has been paralyzing. When I graduated from high school, a lot of people wrote in my yearbook: ‘You’re going to do great things,’ or ‘I know you’re going to make it big.’ I realized recently that with all the time I spent trying to figure out what my ‘big thing’ was going to be, I passed over a lot of small things that could have really added up. The moment I became content with taking small steps, I started moving forward again."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"I started working in the fields when I was five. After that, I...

"I started working in the fields when I was five. After that, I worked construction for thirty years. Eight years ago, I was between jobs and I wanted to do something useful, so I started going to school. It took me 8 years to get through middle school, because I could only go to classes when work was slow, but I finished with a 9.3 out of 10. Now I’m moving on to high school. The toughest part is Algebra."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"The saddest moment of my life was when my son left for America....

"The saddest moment of my life was when my son left for America. I begged him not to go, but it was no use. He was my son but also my best friend. He used to tell me everything, but all he tells me now is: ‘Don’t worry, I have a job. I’ll tell you everything when I get back.’ I think he just doesn’t want me to worry about him. Because I heard from his friend that he’s being badly mistreated."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"I was carrying a steel pipe at work, and it brushed up against...

"I was carrying a steel pipe at work, and it brushed up against an electrical wire. When I woke up, I saw that everything was gone, and I just started crying. It’s like I’m a kid again. They clean me, they put me to bed, they wipe my butt, and they even hold my birdie when I pee. I’ve been begging for money in this same spot for 20 years. All that I can do is try to get my bread every day until God decides to take me home."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

"Everyone is born with a number. Mine is the number of The...

"Everyone is born with a number. Mine is the number of The Beast. Jesus told me he needed an Antichrist. And now Satan is smoking me like a cigarette. But maybe I will be an Antichrist who helps people, because I’m also a white wizard. " 

(Mexico City, Mexico)