John Lacey » Friends

Pencil Sketch: Austin

John Lacey — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:59:25 +0000

By rights I should know better. I mean I am always posting encouraging videos, I’m always quoting supportive passages of The Artist’s Way. But a part of me was beginning to think that the ability to create art was perhaps something you were born with, something you either had or didn’t have, and I was beginning to think I didn’t have it. I’ve had a frustrating couple of weeks, dissatisfied with the work I’ve been producing. A part of me was thinking about packing up my art supplies for good.

But last night I drew in my sketchbook. I thought back to Lee Hammond’s instructions regarding pencil blending, and with nothing more than a 2B pencil and a tortillion I drew this sketch. It is a picture of Dailybooth user @Albatrossd. Something about doing this completely re-energised me and filled me with a sense of possibility.

I’ve been told repeatedly by certain people that I’m probably being too critical of myself, but it isn’t just that. It is just incredibly frustrating to be chipping away at something and still be left feeling like you’re getting nowhere. I’ve always wanted to be a instinctive intuitive artist but you still need some technical grounding, and Lee Hammond’s instruction has been incredibly helpful.

The nice thing is that support has been coming in from all kinds of corners.

I particularly appreciated these comments from my dear friend David because they acknowledge the attempt, the struggle. Because that’s the first obstacle – just showing up – and I really appreciate that people notice that (whether the work is good or not) I’m keeping my promise to myself to keep trying.

Facebook and Friendship

John Lacey — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:03:15 +0000

There are as many uses of social networking services as there are users using them. While it can be tempting to assume that Facebook for example is just about playing Mob Wars and collecting ‘friends’ as if they were Pokemon (a notion popular with some media outlets), many people use such services to have heart felt interactions with people they care about. Sometimes these are interactions that due to a myriad of reasons – including geographical distance – just can’t happen by any other means.

People, in effect, opt in to a relationship with you. And the flip side of this is that they can also opt out of that relationship at any moment. Sometimes they just won’t have the time to devote to that interaction. Perhaps their (if you’ll forgive the expression) ‘real life’ will obscure their need or desire for online communications. Perhaps they are suddenly without the means to access the Internet. Some people will decide that they are suffering from data overload and quit using the Internet altogether. Some people will decide they have no need for the particular website or service and delete their account or profile. And as the user, the consumer if you will, this flexibility is desirable and empowering.

But as someone left behind it can be bewildering and heartbreaking. It may be some time before you even realise that a friend has left your social circle. You may not have any information about their motivations for leaving. If you haven’t communicated with them via other means you may not be able to communicate with them again. And if they’ve decided to abstain from online communications altogether it won’t matter how many emails you send, you may be left forever wondering what happened to them.

I respect each individual’s right to use or not use these resources as they see fit. I would just hope that if those relationships mean anything to you at all that you offer some consultation before an abrupt departure.

Are Online Friends “Real Friends”?

John Lacey — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:49:41 +0000

Are online friends “real friends”?

I was a little amused that Plaxo (an online calendar/address book/organiser service) sent me an email to let me know that somebody I knew had joined their service. I clicked on the link and was presented with the following options.

You can choose between Business Network, Family or Friend. Though the suggested text beside ‘Friend’ is more than a tad condescending, especially for what is essentially a service for connecting and sharing information online.

Your real life friends. (Not your “social networking friends”)

But wait, there’s still more…!

Further down on the same screen:

Pulse is for real relationships. Please do not spam people you don’t know with unwelcome connection requests.

How do you know if a request is ‘unwelcome’ before you send it? Isn’t that the point of the exercise, to give the other person the opportunity to accept or deny the request at their discretion?

I hear the expression ‘IRL friends’ all the time. I understand the desire to differentiate between those relationships in daily life and those that exist online. I understand that there are different dimensions and dynamics to both. What I struggle with though is the implication that friendships formed online are in some way inferior, trivial or ‘unreal.’ If anything, I tend to think these relationships can be much more meaningful to the extent that they’re based on shared passions, interests and beliefs, rather than just the stuff of circumstance – a shared city, workplace, demographic.

Psychology aside, I do worry about the longevity of a web based service that would begrudge such relationships. As it is my friend, the new user of that service, didn’t fit neatly into any of the categories provided and I sort of gave up and closed the window. I don’t really use Plaxo anyway…

Facebook Statuses At A Glance

John Lacey — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:29:31 +0000

What follows is primarily for the benefit of Cynthia.

After you log into Facebook by default you will see the ‘News Feed.’ This is just an aggregated overview of recent items about your Facebook friends. This is just an overview and the results are somewhat arbirtrary.

In the top left hand corner of the screen you will see a number of options that let you filter the information in other ways. You can sort by the networks you’re a part of (in this instance, Australia because I am Australian), by recent photographs, links and status updates.

To see recent status updates, simply click on that option. You’ll be presented with recent updates from your friends, starting with the most recent ones.

If you get to the bottom of the page and want to see even older updates, simply click on ‘Older Posts.’

If one of your friends posts so prolifically that they’re pushing other people’s updates out of view, you can hover the mouse over the corner of their update and select the ‘hide’ option.

If you decide you’d like to show their updates in your feeds again, simply click ‘Edit Options’ [in the same bar that 'Older Posts' appears (see above)] and select the users you’d like to include.

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions please let me know!

John Lacey » Friends

Pencil Sketch: Austin

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