Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 350

“I wanted to be a defense lawyer because I wanted to come back...

“I wanted to be a defense lawyer because I wanted to come back and protect my community. I wanted to protect my people from the police. People around here grow up hating the police. But you know what they’ve done? The police have recruited our people. They’ve made it more complicated. They’ve got Dominicans and Puerto Ricans doing their work for them. Because they know it’s hard to hate your people. But as soon as that badge goes on, it changes you. Once that badge goes on, your people are the ‘boys in blue.’”

“It’s not even about making money for me, it’s about gaining...

“It’s not even about making money for me, it’s about gaining respect. Seems that for kids around here, all the respect goes to the drug dealers, because they’re the ones with money. But you know what saved me? Family. Instead of hanging out with friends after school, I’d take the bus from the Bronx to work with my dad in the recycling yard. He’d drive me around in his truck while he was doing pick-ups, and he’d tell me stories. And every one of his stories started the same way. He’d say: ‘I wish that when I was your age, I knew the things that I know now.’ And he’d also ask me questions. He’d say: ‘When you get a car, are you going to lease it or buy it?’ He’d say: ‘What stocks do you think we should buy with the money we make today?’ He’d say: ‘Where do you think is the best place to buy a piece of property?’”

“It’s been tough in law school. Cause you know, I grew up around...

“It’s been tough in law school. Cause you know, I grew up around here, and I’ve still got some of that ghettoness in me. I talk a little different. I came up with this sort of nonchalant attitude, and now I’m competing with a bunch of private school kids that are ruthless. I’m supposed to read sixty pages a night, and I’m realizing that I don’t read as well as I thought I did. I realized that public school kids are just behind. I did horrible the first year. I almost folded. But I pulled it back together. I took a tough internship that summer and came back strong. Cause it’s destined to happen.”

“I didn’t get married until I was 55. But boy was it worth the...

“I didn’t get married until I was 55. But boy was it worth the wait. He looked just like Peter O’Toole!”

“I was extremely shy when I was younger. I wasn’t asked to the...

“I was extremely shy when I was younger. I wasn’t asked to the prom or anything. Life didn’t really even start for me until I turned fifty. But let’s just say I got plenty of experience after that!”

“I was a young, lily-white liberal who majored in social work. I...

“I was a young, lily-white liberal who majored in social work. I imagined myself as a Dorothea Dix type figure, who was going to save the world. Then I graduated and learned about bureaucracy. So I lowered my goals, and just tried to help a couple of people every day.”

"Do you have any advice for other fishermen?""You have to sneak...

"Do you have any advice for other fishermen?"
"You have to sneak up on them and catch them real fast. And you have to wear boots. I once caught a monster fish that went all the way up to the sky like a giant. I like giants. But not mean giants. I like nice giants."

“I think my grandfather may have the correct approach to art....

“I think my grandfather may have the correct approach to art. He’s had a long career, and in his retirement he’s been working on building a boat. I doubt he’ll ever finish it, but I don’t think that’s particularly important to him. He wakes up every morning, drinks his cup of coffee, then goes out to his workshop to sand a tiny portion of wood. He doesn’t need to finish that boat to pay the rent. He can afford to have some distance from it, so he gets to enjoy it. He looks at that boat tenderly, like he looks at his grandkids. He gets to have a dream without the necessity of achieving it.”

“It seems that the more I tried to make my life about the...

“It seems that the more I tried to make my life about the pursuit of art, the more money controlled my life: collecting unemployment insurance, the humiliation of borrowing money from friends and family, tossing and turning at night while trying to figure out how to pay the rent. To survive I had to work hard jobs and afterwards I’d feel too tired and too stressed to paint. It’s very hard to create under those circumstances. Creativity is a delicate process. Often times I wonder if I should have just pursued a career for the first half of my life, obtained some degree of financial security, and then transitioned into art.”

So Little Humans is coming out in almost two months, and the...

So Little Humans is coming out in almost two months, and the first hardcopy has just arrived! It is awesome. Your child is guaranteed to giggle, point, and cheer. And if test readings are any indication, there is a 38.53% chance you will cry. It comes out October 7th— very excited about it. You can preorder now and receive it on day of publish:

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

"Brandon," they say to me, "Since you are promoting the children’s book, can you remind everyone about the adult book?" Of course I will. Aesthetically arranged beneath Little Humans, you can see the adult book, appropriately titled Humans of New York, which after nine months is still hanging onto the NYT Bestseller’s list. Most likely because it’s a "publishing phenomenon" (New York Times) that also happens to be "visually arresting and disarmingly deep." (The Atlantic). If you so desire, you can order that here:

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1s7vodd
BARNES AND NOBLE: INDIEBOUND: http://bit.ly/1nWvwbk

To the right of Little Humans, you can find Susie, who has asked me, while we are promoting things, to remind everyone that she is on a lifelong mission to help place orphaned senior dogs in loving homes. You can find her page here: Susie’s Senior Dogs.

And finally, my cactus, Carl, has asked me, since we’re already promoting things, if I could advertise his fan page: Carl The Cactus. He is hoping to get a certain number of likes before he launches his GoFundMe campaign.