When I leaned of our observational essay assignment, one place automatically popped into my mind, the pearl street mall in Boulder. The combination of an open air mall, comparable to the 16th street mall in Denver, and the overall vibe of the city of Boulder should make for an interesting observation. I have previously visited this mall a few different times and have always enjoyed myself. There are usually some sorts of street performers, hundreds of people to watch, and a collection of unique stores and places to see. I figured I would rather have an interesting time doing this assignment than doing something that would be predictable and boring.
My main focus for this observation, if I am able to find them, will be the street performers. I’m hoping that I will be able to find a show going on while I am there, but if not I think it will still be pretty interesting just to watch people exploring the shops and general area. Considering that there isn’t really a schedule for these performances, or even a designated area, I will need a little bit of luck to find what I’m looking for.
A couple of sites I found that could be helpful are Boulder visitor guide and map sites. These will be able to give me a context by giving me a little bit of history of the town and area. More importantly they can help me find parking. I don’t know if anyone else has ever been to Boulder, but parking is horrendous at best. The other website I will be using is wikipedia. I’m using this in order to give me a better context. I’ve looked up street performing and will be able to better understand, and more accurately view, whatever performance I hopefully catch. I think understanding more about both the city and street performances, will help me immensely in completing this assignment.
Keeping the audience in mind, the internet public, I think this would be a good topic because it is something not everyone can experience. As I’ve said before, what sparks a person’s interest is usually something that is unusual or they haven’t experienced before. Street performances in Boulder are something that most people wouldn’t normally see. Especially considering that the audience is effectively the Earth. That is the great power of the internet, anyone who wants to can reach people from all over the world.
I personally want to use this as my topic mainly because I think it would be entertaining. Also I’ve always had an interest in street performing and other people who gain their income in non traditional ways. I find your average, go to the office every day, non spontaneous job depressing in many aspects. I think in able to enjoy life you have to have some unknown aspects to it. With spontaneity comes excitement, and with excitement comes a more enjoyable living experience.
Here are the websites I'm using:
Visiting Boulder
Downtown Boulder
Street performers
2 comments:
That is a great place to do your observations. I have been there once and it seemed like a really busy and happening place. I agree with you though, the parking was horrible. It took be about 20 minutes to find a very far away parking spot that cost me about 10 dollars. I can’t wait to read your essay and see what you observed. Hopefully you will see something new and exciting and report back to us about it. 16th street mall doesn’t get many street performers these days, I think Pearl Street is a much better place to observe! Good luck.
Parking can be a bitch, but if you park in the parking garage on Spruce street it's not so bad. You end up heading half-a-block south and come into the Mall near the Boulder Bookstore, a wonderful place. If you turn left, "The Kitchen" offers a great selection of food - even if some of it seems a bit pricey. Pearl Street is a BLAST!
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