Credits:

Paradise Unpaved © 2008, Franke James, MFA
Photographs, illustrations and writing by Franke James, MFA except where noted.
Alice in Wonderland drawing by Franke James, was inspired by illustrator John Tenniel’s 1865 drawing, “She was now more than nine feet high!”
Franke James with shovel photo by Michael Stuparyk, Toronto Star, under license from Torstar
Seeding Photo of Franke James by Lucas Oleniuk, Toronto Star, under license from Torstar
Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell, excerpt of lyrics.

Many thanks to Joan Chadde, author of Understanding the Ecological Impacts of Changing Land Uses published in the Spring 2008 issue of Green Teacher, and her colleague Dr. Alex Mayer, a hydrologist in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences at Michigan Technological University, for their kind assistance with the stormwater calculations.

Articles and Media:

The Green Driveway Articles detail the building of our green driveway step-by-step, including the materials used.
Eco-friendly driveway is rejected by the city Paul Moloney, Toronto Star, May 5, 2007
Interview by Melissa Grelo, CITY TV, May 6, 2007
Don’t Rip Up Your Driveway in North York, Lloyd Alter, Treehugger.com, May 8, 2007

Resources:

Stormwater Runoff: Understanding the Ecological Impacts of Changing Land Uses by Joan Chadde, Michigan Technological University, Green Teacher Magazine Issue Spring 2008

Toronto Homeowner’s Guide to Rainfall: Riversides 2008 report: Urban Runoff Excellent backgrounder on stormwater runoff and the economic cost of it to the city.

Riversides 2008 Toronto Workshops - 5 Things You Can Do

Reports referenced by Franke James to City Official
City of Toronto 2005: Transportation Report on Wet Weather Flow
City of Toronto 2005: Impacts of Front Yard Parking on Wet Weather Flow

tweeted to me (and 1266 other followers): “Are you a TWITTER WHORE?”

Well, I certainly don’t want to be a Twitter Whore… so I clicked on it (purely for investigative reasons).

There have been 1,246 comments on the Twitter Whore video made by

tweeted thnx back to

“Excellent and funny video. Great satire of Twitter experience. Thnx for pointing me to it.”

But ultimately the send-up is scary for newbies. It presents the stereotype of what many believe the Twitter experience to be. If this is what Twitter was about, I wouldn’t be tapping into it. (But it is a funny parody.)

Is Twitter really just about the picayune details of other people’s lives? Is it just a voyeuristic thrill — like peeking in someone’s diary?

For me it’s the opportunity to feel the rhythm and texture of other people’s daily existence. We communicate who we are through the revelation of the things we ’say’ we think about, the things we do, and the stuff we show to others as ‘cool’ and ‘neat’. Twitter helps me tune in to creative, environmental, and leading-edge thinkers. See my earlier post on my Twitter experience “What on earth is everyone twittering about?”

Twitter could be a sociologist’s (and definitely a marketer’s) wet dream… I hope the people who stumble onto Twitter Whore understand that this is a silly satire created to promote its creator. It gives a distorted, inane view of what Twitter is about.

Maybe Twitter Corporation’s brand police should ban the Twitter Whore?

Now about this Friendfeed thingy that pulled me into… Friendfeed is following me everywhere! I’m getting the power of social media. But I changed my picture to throw them off the track.