Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 375

"I’ve been working my whole life to make the word...

"I’ve been working my whole life to make the word ‘organic’ mean something. I lobbied for 20 years. I was hopeful when the National Organic Program was instituted in 2000. I saw an early version of the bill, two months before it was passed, and I’m telling you— it was awesome. But they gutted it. By the time they got done with it, 142 synthetics were lawfully permitted in the growing of ‘organic’ food."

"I’m at a point now where I’m trying to figure out...

"I’m at a point now where I’m trying to figure out if acting will be feasible as a way of life. I’m actually working right now. Every 1.5 hours, a theatrical tour bus drives by this spot, and I stand up and sing a song called ‘How Do I Get To Broadway.’"

She noticed me laughing at the title of the song. “I know,” she said. “It’s an act… but then again, it isn’t.”

Seen in the subway.

Seen in the subway.

"I’ve been a divorce lawyer for 32 years. Not too many...

"I’ve been a divorce lawyer for 32 years. Not too many lawyers can stomach it. Divorce brings out the bad in good people, and the monster in bad people. Everyone wants to leave the table with a piece of the other."

"I found a picture of a baby on his phone that looks just like...

"I found a picture of a baby on his phone that looks just like him."

"I’m over-invested in my children’s happiness, so...

"I’m over-invested in my children’s happiness, so it’s hard to relax. And I’ve got a musician son who thinks he can only be creative if he’s unhappy."

"The women love my glasses."

"The women love my glasses."

Seen in Washington Square Park

Seen in Washington Square Park

“She died in front of me. I was seven years old, and I was...

“She died in front of me. I was seven years old, and I was helping her make the bed, and she just collapsed on the bed and never woke up. Two days later, I moved to America to live with my aunt and uncle. They didn’t tell me it was a suicide until I was old enough to begin dating. My aunt felt like I should know that my mom had killed herself over a man, because they didn’t want me to do the same thing.”

“My parents were always fighting. They weren’t very supportive....

“My parents were always fighting. They weren’t very supportive. I used to be bitter about it. I was caught up on how my life could have been different if I had better parents. How things would have been different if x, y, and z had happened. But then you get older and you realize maybe they didn’t have the capacity to give you what you needed. They couldn’t understand you, just like you couldn’t understand them. You realize they were dealing with their own disappointments. And you even start to think, ‘Maybe I could have been a better son.’”