Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 494

"There’s a lot of pressure being the child of...

"There’s a lot of pressure being the child of immigrants."

“Why’s that?”

“My mother is Thai, my father is from Chile. They met while working at a restaurant. There’s a knowledge among first generation immigrants— that they aren’t going to be the ones to achieve the American Dream. They have to work hard and struggle so that their children will have a shot at it. So they educate their children and pass the Dream along to them. And now I have an obligation to make more fucking money than them, to live the American Dream, to validate all the risks they took and everything they went through. And that’s a heavy burden.”

With all the fluff and empty pomp floating around the internet...

With all the fluff and empty pomp floating around the internet today, you can always count on HONY to bring you the rawest, truth bearing, hardest hitting images.

"What was the happiest moment of your life?"“Europe in...

"What was the happiest moment of your life?"

“Europe in the summer of 1959.”

“What happened there?”

“I was nineteen. I’d just lost 100 pounds and had a whole new set of clothes. I toured Paris and Rome and everyone was paying me so much attention. They were even asking for my photograph! Of course inside I still felt like an awkward, overweight girl. It was all so overwhelming and wonderful!”

“Why’d you go to Europe?”

“To have sex, of course. And I did! I was the first in my whole group of friends. I came home and told everyone that I’d done it with a charming Frenchman. In reality it was some creepy dude from Chicago.”

"What’s your greatest struggle right now?"“Imposed...

"What’s your greatest struggle right now?"

“Imposed insecurity.”

“What does that mean?”

“I spend a lot of time worrying about changes in things that I have no control over. Medicare, Social Security, things like that. I worry about my ability to grow old with dignity. They keep talking about cutting this, and taking that away. They shouldn’t be springing that stuff on my generation. We did everything we were told to do. Spring that on a generation that has time to plan for it.”

"Don’t try to be someone else’s beautiful."

"Don’t try to be someone else’s beautiful."

"It’s interesting how a New York Times review can...

"It’s interesting how a New York Times review can influence an audience’s reaction to a play. I’ve been in plays that I thought were great, but when a bad review came out, the audiences suddenly fell flat. On the other hand, I’ve been in plays that I thought were mediocre. But after a good New York Times review came out, the audiences were suddenly much more responsive."

“How do you measure an audience’s responsiveness?”

“There’s two ways that an actor can really ‘feel’ an audience from the stage. One is the volume of the laughter. The other is the depth of the silences. When a play really grabs an audience, there’s no fidgeting, and no checking of cell phones. You can feel the stillness.”

"I left Iran three years ago to study dance. I wouldn’t...

"I left Iran three years ago to study dance. I wouldn’t have been allowed to perform in my country. Since leaving, I’ve already choreographed and produced a show about my life."

“So you didn’t dance at all in Iran?”

“I danced. Just alone in my room.”

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of...

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"

“Dare to be square in a round world. But don’t steal that, it’s copyrighted.”

"Hey! HONY! I was your 11333rd like!"

"Hey! HONY! I was your 11333rd like!"

Woke up to some pretty intense shit happening outside my window...

Woke up to some pretty intense shit happening outside my window last night…