“change your thoughts and you change the world”
the fortune cookie message I got on my birthday.

I’m imagining most visitors are put off by Hilo’s melancholy mood. I actually found it stimulating. I love older cities that aren’t painted over with shiny new colors. It gives me a wonderful sense of history and reminds me that all is transient and that our urban existence is just mimicking nature where birth and death are expected and renewal is just around the corner. Hey all you artists, Hilo is waiting for you.

We arrived in Hilo tonight on the Big Island of Hawaii. The town is a ramshackle untouched kind of place which certainly doesn’t play to the fact that it is the second biggest city in Hawaii.  After walking around the historic section of the city we ended up at the Palace Theatre. A striking theatre that was built in 1925 and is still open today. The movie “Moon” was showing tonight. I shot this one during the film.

I went out to see the Watt’s Towers yesterday. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I spend my time and what does a lifetime’s accumulation of hours amount to. Well, in the case of Simon Rodia, it amounted to the lasting legacy of the Watt’s Towers. Rodia spent all his spare time for 33 years creating this art piece. The project was started when the man was in his forties. I wonder if he was having a mid-life crisis? The age seems ripe for a reflection of the meaning of life.

I went out shooting tonight and ended up photographing my favorite Austin landmark, the Frost Building. I have shot the Frost Building many times before but never from this location. I love the openness of the intersection and that brilliant golden color of the road. The trailing taillights and swaying buildings can keep me there all night. Click on the image to see it bigger.