“I want to be an artist.”

“What kind of art do you want to make?”

“I want to make different versions of myself.”

“Do you need the cane?”
“I need it when I’m wearing these shoes.”

“If you let your gum air out for a few seconds, it’s more of a challenge when you put it back in.”

We talked for a few minutes. She told me that she’d had a plan to join the Navy out of high school, but that fell apart because her knees were bad. She told me that she’d just finished working a 12 hour shift on a food truck. She told me that she’d moved to New York for no reason, just to get out of Kansas. “But I’m so glad I came,” she said.

“Why’s that?” I asked. Her eyes began to water.

“Because I’m so in love with a girl right now.”

“Every thought you have seeps into your blood.”

“What’s the most scared you’ve ever been?”

“Probably when I was detoxing from alcohol. The first time.”

“How long after that did you have your next drink?”

“Twenty days.”

“I ain’t never made a doll before, and it came out perfect!” 

“If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?”
“Keep your powder dry.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure. I think it’s an 18th Century thing.”
“Ok… well, what’s your greatest struggle right now?”
“Getting across this road is gonna be pretty tough.”

“Why were you homeless?”

“It just got to a point where my mom couldn’t maintain anymore. The sad part was that it was during high school. So I had to keep it a secret. Cause, you know, it’s high school.”

Seen in Hudson River Park

My Spidey Sense is telling me that somebody awesome is nearby. 

“What are you working toward?”
“Being the boss.” 

“I want to be a police officer.”
“What’s the best part of being a police officer?”
“Protecting people.”
“What’s the worst part?”
“Probably the gun fights.”

In perhaps our most epic fan art submission to date, Nathanael de Boer and Emma McCann have recreated a HONY portrait using burnt toast.

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