Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 438

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?""When I got...

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?"
"When I got my Camaro."
"Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?"
"When I crashed my Camaro."

"We’ve been on it for two years." “Did you do drugs...

"We’ve been on it for two years."
“Did you do drugs before that?”
“A line of coke at a party, every once in awhile we’d pop a couple Vicodin and watch TV. But we had normal lives. She was an office administrator, I was a cook. Then I got hurt and got a prescription for some Oxycontins. And I gave a few to her. And before long we were crushing them up and snorting them. Then we started doing heroin cause it was cheaper. It’s the same thing, really, as the Oxycontins. Just cheaper.”
“What’s it feel like when you stop doing heroin?”
“It’s like dying. And being reborn again. Your eyes keep crying and your nose keeps running and you’ve got cold sweats. And for like 4 days you’re flopping around and can’t get comfortable, so you can’t sleep for days so you start thinking crazy and seeing things. And if you can make it through those four days without getting a bag of dope, then you come out the other side so exhausted you can’t move. If you’re lucky you can get some methadone from a clinic, but that’s even more addictive than the heroin.”
“Would you say heroin has ruined your life?”
“Absolutely.”
“Do you mind if I share that?”
“That’s fine. Just say one thing. Be sure to say that we really do love each other and we’re trying to fix our lives.”

"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever...

"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever been?"
"Probably when I was five, and I learned I had Polio."
"What’s one way that Polio improved your life?"
"It made me more tolerant of failure in others."

"I did some stupid things when I was younger.""What was the...

"I did some stupid things when I was younger."
"What was the stupidest?"
"We faked a hanging."
"You faked a what?"
"A hanging. Back in college, a group of us strapped a guy into a harness, put a rope around his neck, and hung him from some pipes. Then we ran and got the Dean of Students."

"It was one drunken mistake, so I didn’t think it was that...

"It was one drunken mistake, so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. So I told her about it. Turns out it was a big deal."

"My mind was on sex all the time, so I wasn’t being very...

"My mind was on sex all the time, so I wasn’t being very considerate of her needs or feelings. I should have been taking her out more, and doing nice things for her."

"We’ve been together 20 years, but I’d put on a lot...

"We’ve been together 20 years, but I’d put on a lot of weight recently. But even when I was struggling with it, she always supported me and saw my core. And this year I was able to lose 76 lbs."

Seen on the Upper West Side

Seen on the Upper West Side

"I ran away to California for a week without telling anyone. I...

"I ran away to California for a week without telling anyone. I wanted to remove myself from everything, to see if I could work out some things in my head. But it actually created more problems. I learned it doesn’t really work that way."
"How do you mean?"
"Just that if you can’t figure out your problems in your present circumstances, you’re probably not going to figure them out by running away from them."

"I’m a Catholic priest.""What’s the most difficult...

"I’m a Catholic priest."

"What’s the most difficult part about being a priest?"

"You sort of have to be all things to all people, and everyone expects you to fulfill their needs right away. It may sometimes seem like I’m not concerned with your problem. But I might just be tired. Or have the flu."