Photography by Thomas Miller

Autumn 2012 issue no. 41

Featured Photographer

Alumni Interview 4To A Friend7

Comic Con 8What If ? 10

The Little Black Dress

Recipe Corner

12

16

Impressionist Recommends1314

My Two Cents 22On A Music Note24

Silent Films 26

Contents

It’s been my pleasure to be part of the Impressionist team for this issue and the past two issues as well. Its such a thrill to see the improvements the magazines continues to make. This redesign has been the result of the collaboration and hard work of the Impressionist’s talented team members, so please enjoy this issue. Also, congratulations to our new Layout Editor: Isaiah Davis and our new Managing Editor: Shay Kahnaui on their first issue in these positions, good job guys! Since I am graduating next quarter, this is a great time to Welcome Alex Sanchez, as new Editor-in-Chief, will be rooting for you and the team Alex, good luck!

MonicaMikhaeilEditor in Chief

Pam Cumpton

Advisor

Michelle VillarealDesigner

Aaron ClinardDesigner

Jackie BitteDesigner

Creative Team [editor’s letters]

Shay KaahanuiManaging Editor

Isaiah DavisDesign/Layout Editor

Alexandra SanchezNewly ElectedEditor in Chief

Our team would like to thank Pam Cumpton for all her support and help with the impressionist magazine for over 40 past issues. And we would like to wish her a happy retirement! Thanks again Pam, We will miss you! The Impressionist Magazine Creative Team

The Impressionist Magazine is a student organization recognized by the Student Affairs at The Institute of Art-Schaumburg. The words and pictures in this issue represent the thoughts and ideas of individuals amog the talented and diverse student body of ILIS. Ideas expressed herein do no necessarily reflect the thoughts and oinions of the Institute of Art Schaumburg, its staff or faculty. The editorial staff of the Impressionist encourages response and comments on the material in the magazine.

Alumni Interview

What do you feel was the most important thing in your portfolio that employers looked at?

The most important thing in my portfolio was my Thesis project. It was a project that I worked on for 2 quarters and put everything into it. It was a commercial project and my dream has always been to work at a commercial design company. But I would say that at the portfolio show, the most important thing was my table layout. That is the first thing that employers saw before they even looked in my portfolio.

What was one thing you wished you had known before you graduated, and if you could change one thing about your college experience what would it be?

Before I graduated, I wish I would have known how important networking is. Life is about who you know. I didn’t realize how important it is to meet people in your industry that you can learn from while you are still a student and then you can continue to learn from them while you are a graduate. If I could change one

thing about my college experience it would be to spend more time on projects and classes and less time on extracurricular activities. I was so involved in Design Alliance; I would be doing things for the group before I would even touch my projects. In the end that would affect my grade and I didn’t realize how important my GPA was to me until my last year at ILIS and by then it was too late.

What was the biggest shock that came to you after you graduated?

The biggest shock that I realized after graduation was that you’re not going to get your dream job right out of college. But you can find something pretty darn close. You first job after school helps prepare you for the future. My dream has always been to work at a large firm in a major city, but the company I’m at is small and family owned. But I didn’t realize the benefits to working at a small design company; I am learning so much every day about different aspects of the projects that I wouldn’t have the chance to experence at a large company.

During my time at ILIS I was very active in school. I was a Student Ambassador which helped me tremendously with meeting different people and getting acclimated

with the school. I also worked in the Interior Design Resource room and as a tutor for the interior design program. In addition to that, I was very involved in Student Organizations; I was in Design Alliance and became President after a year of being in the group. I was also a writer for the Impressionist and member of Visual Voltage. I later became a leader for all of the Student Organizations before graduating. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA in the winter of 2011.

At my portfolio show I remember being ready to take on the world. One of the employers at the portfolio show is the company that I currently work for. Affrunti Design & Management is located

in Crystal Lake, only 10 minutes from my house. I’ve lived there for 15 years and had no idea that there was a design company just down the street. I was without a job for a month after graduation; that was the perfect amount of time off for me to relax after finals, although I must say that I was starting to get worried about finding a job in this market. I have been at Affrunti Design for over 6 months already and I can’t believe that time has flown by so quickly.

I am currently studying for my LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Associate exam. In the future I will be taking the NCIDQ Exam and going back to school to receive my Masters Degree.

Krista Lackey

Cont...

Graduated: Winter 2011

Current Company: Affrunti Design & Management

Current Position:Interior Designer

In a glass box sits a sight to see, soaking, almost marinating, in a pool of light. Passersby’s stop to witness its intricate simplicity.

She’s perfection, gorgeous, some say.Blessed with the power of charm and a smilethat shines through the darkest of rooms. The whispers depict her as beautiful, whispers mesmerized by tangled locks of hair, vvvvvvThey agree she’s beautiful, but haven’t they heard? It’s the beautiful ones that hide the ugliest stories.

The view from the inside looking out is a skewed version of what the whispers tell as she counts her demons on each finger. The stress to be better than best. Strains of the heart from relationships turned sour. A balancing act set up for disaster. Old age at much too young an age. A trail of expectations risen up only to end in pieces. A troubled home to turn the other cheek to. Bad decisions made by juvenile thoughts: anxiety, embarrassment, fears. Her demons hidden so deep they dare notescape her lips.Instead, she smiles, trapping them behind clenched teeth.

The compliments from passersby hit her surfacebut don’t seem to seep deep enough to relinquish the demands that scurry under the skin. Tears cannot save her now,they only fill those walls of glass up and to the brim.No room for release, she suffocates. To drown in one’s own demons, though tragic, is what molds true beauty.

“It’s the beautiful ones that hide the ugliest stories.”

What are any pointers you have that you could give to any new graduates looking for a job?

Don’t give up! It’s difficult to find a job. Yes, the school will help you, but you should also be looking on your own. Start with a part-time job in your field if you can’t find anything full-time. Maybe while you’re at that job you will meet someone that is hiring or the company you are at will need someone to hire and you are there for them to consider.

How much of a difference is it having a full-time job as compared to being a full-time student?

I love graduate life!! After working an 8 hour day I can go home and relax and do whatever I’d like. When I was a student after that 8 hour day of being at school, I’d have to go home and work on projects for another 8 hours. It was exhausting! Now I can get a good night sleep. Plus it is really nice having a steady income and not being a broke college student.

What are any tips for people just starting at a new job to help them get acclimated?

`Immerse yourself into everything! That is how you are going to learn. I thought I knew a lot after I graduated but you don’t know as much as you think. You are always learning even years after you graduate. Also, get involved in what your employer is involved in. My

company is very active in the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, so I joined the chamber’s “Young Professionals.” It is a network group for individuals ages 21-40. So far I have met a lot of great people my age that work in different industries. It’s a lot of fun.

What have been some of your favorite things that you’ve done at your job and is there anything coming up that you are looking forward to?

I am lucky to do a lot of interesting and different things at my job. Some days I spend the whole time working on a space plan and others I have meetings with clients, vendors, or contractors. When I was first starting at the company, they were discussing the new website; so I had a lot of input in that which was very exciting. We recently launched the website after months of planning and discussions on layout. Since that is something that I never got to do in school, it has been one of my favorite things. When you are getting new clients one of the first things they do is Google you and look at your website. It is really neat that everyone can see what I helped design. We are hopefully going to get some pretty big jobs this fall, and the space that we are in is very small and can barely fit the people and supplies that we need. If we get these big jobs we can expand our office over double the size it is now. An attractive office might help us get more jobs because business interiors are what we do; people expect us to have a nice office. It would be nice to spread out when working on a project and not be crunched on space. So that is what I am looking forward to in the future at Affrunti Design & Management.

At my portfolio show I remember being ready to take on the world.

Shay Kaahanui is a Hawaii native now studying graphic design here at ILIS. She enjoys expressing herself in many creative medians and with only a year left before graduation, Shay is finally sharing her written words.

A sizable portion of Comic-Con is spent waiting in line for panels and the exclusive content and celebrity sightings that go with them. As a result, you spend several hours a day surrounded by strangers. Talk to them.

More often than not, you’ll discover similar passions and interests. Better still, you might be introduced to your next passion. At the very least, you end up passing time with more stories and more laughter than you would otherwise.

I was incredibly lucky with celebrity sight-ings at Comic-Con this year. I bumped into some (Zachary Levi - Chuck; Paul Scheer - The League; Matt Groening - The Simpsons), saw others in panel (Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly; Morgan Spurlock - Super Size Me; Craig McCracken - The Powerpuff Girls, Dex-ter’s Lab) and even chatted with a few.

As exciting as it was to see icons like Stan Lee, Grant Imahara (from Mythbusters), and Mark Hamill (you may know him as Luke Skywalker) in the flesh, I learned the most from Alex Albrecht, Jeff Cannata, and Dan Trachtenberg of The Totally Rad Show.

The Totally Rad Show is a video pod-cast that reviews movies, games, and TV shows. After 4 years of watching the show, I’ve come to appreciate the hosts’ opinions, sense of humour, and ambitions. Only in meeting them in person did I real-ize how approachable and humble they are. After their panel, they were genuinely excited to meet their fans and, well, just hang out! They were very real, which was refreshing. They made me realize that there doesn’t need to be a divide between your onscreen and actual presence.

Comic-Con is a brilliant excuse for every major media company to pour millions of dollars into promotional materials. As overwhelming as some of the displays are, it’s exciting to see what advertisers come up with when money is no object.

Take, for instance, the restaurant on Harbor Street that was so completely wrapped in graphics promoting NBC’s Grimm that you couldn’t tell there was a building underneath. Or the huge stage promoting Iron Man 3 that showcased lit up, full-scale models of each iteration of the Iron Man suit since its inception. Or the life-size South Park Elementary School that served as a screening room for a game demo. Or the fleet of special effects makeup artists zombifying people (for free!) as a promotion for the upcoming season of The Walking Dead. The list goes on and on.

In a world of flashy oversized print jobs and elaborate booths, it can be tricky standing out with anything less than a million-dollar budget – but as I found out, the FX channel was able to do just that.

To promote the new season of Wilfred (a bizarre comedy about a washed-up lawyer who develops a friendship with his neighbor’s dog, personified as a foul-mouthed Australian man in a dog suit), FX set up an oversized fire hydrant outside of the convention center. Two men in wooly Wilfred costumes stood around it and made fun of passers-by with their Austra-lian accents. It was funny. It was strange. It was memorable. As memorable, I would venture to say, as the graphics-wrapped restaurant, but at a fraction of the budget.

With 120,000 nerds packed into a single convention center, I was expecting to deal with a lot of dehydrated, exhausted, and cranky line-cutters. Happily, this was never the case – a factor I credit to the amazing event organizers and friendly Comic-Con volunteers.

Even though it was my first Comic-Con, everything felt familiar because the staff made sure to address the conference-goer’s every need. Long line-ups were guided and staffed by volunteers to avoid confusion and line-cutting. If you left a panel, you’d be issued a time-stamped pass so that a seat wouldn’t be empty for long. Traffic controllers kept everyone safe while crossing the tracks to the conven-tion center. Trolley schedules were extend-ed and rerouted for the weekend in order to accommodate San Diego’s temporary burst in population. Convention center maps were clear and easy to read.

The organization and attention to detail made me realize that if you address all the potential negatives of an experience, there’s a plan in place of frustration should something go wrong.

Walking through Artists’ Alley on the Com-ic-Con show floor was an overwhelming experience. Row after row of painters, sculptors, and designers stretched out across the large hall – each with their own hilarious webcomic, or stunning graphic novel, or breathtaking character design. I couldn’t imagine trying to stand out among thousands of other incredible talents.

Then something caught my attention. Two guys chimed “We made this!” while hold-ing a book over their heads. I wandered over and chatted with the two artists – Jory John and Avery Monson – and found out that they were the duo behind the sad-funny book series All My Friends Are Dead. They were eager to talk about their work and about Comic-Con in general, and I was happy to walk off with a copy of their sequel, All My Friends Are Still Dead, complete with a custom dedication and dinosaur drawing.

I realize now how bizarre their ‘marketing strategy’ was (if you can even call it that). Jory and Avery were surrounded by other artists’ professional-looking banners and posters, but managed to draw people in with their friendliness and unbridled excitement.

– Larissa Walkiw

THE CREATIVE TAKEAWAY: Broaden your network. Inspiration can come from outside your immediate community.

“Be open about your work and show others how much you can geek out over it”

WAITING IN LINE? MAKE NEW FRIENDS

SEEK OUT YOUR PERSONAL HEROES & LEARN FROM THEM

BIG MINDS OVER BIG BUDGETS

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF “WE MADE THIS!”

A FAIR ATMOSPHERE IS A FUN ONE

Through a crazy chain of events, I was lucky enough to attend the 2012 San Diego Comic Convention in mid July.

Comic-Con is like Disneyland for geeks – 120,000 geeks, to be exact. For one glorious weekend, you’re able to celebrate your passions in a significant way, rub elbows with your personal heroes, and catch glimpses of what the future of film, TV, gaming, and comics will bring. It’s heaven (but with a lot more free swag).

Though I expected my time at Comic-Con to reignite my excitement for geek culture – and boy, did it ever! – I was shocked to realize how much of my experience related back to the world of design.I’m happy to share what I learned with you in:

5 LESSONSFROM

THE CREATIVE TAKEAWAY:Don’t allow inspiration to come solely from your heroes’ work. Look into how they work, how they treat others, and how they engage their community.

THE CREATIVE TAKEAWAY: You don’t need big bucks in order to create a lasting impression. A good idea can trump the highest production values.

THE CREATIVE TAKEAWAY: When working on a project, take time to evaluate it from the perspective of your audience/client/guest. Is your design user-friendly? Does that scene get the plot point across? Address potential problems early.

THE CREATIVE TAKEAWAY: Be open about your work and show others how much you can geek out over it. Excitement is contagious.

by Chelsea Sevigny

Chelsea is 20 years old, and is from Sparta, Michigan. she is currently in her 9th quarter and graduates in June with a graphic design major. She works in JCPenny and uses all her free time with friends, relationships family. Most of her time however she uses on her school projects.

What ifcould come to mindAnything is possible you just need to aim for it

What if ? You decided to move out of the country with only the bag on your backTravel the world in less than 80 days,Found a hidden civilization,Created a new identity,Fished from a pool at the top of a building,Could learn everything about everyone you meet in your life,Chase after the love of your life,Run a marathon,Discover a cure for cancer,Had a new outlook on life,Find the reason to why you are on this earth, Life is full of possibilities all that you need to do is chase after themIn the busy world of today’s society many people get lost in their work, losing their identityWe need to remember what life is about, more than work, money and leisureIts all about living your life to the fullest, building friendships, taking chances, and learningLearn to chase your dreams and never give up, don’t let those What ifs that keep us back Don’t ever think What if I fail,

Get my heart broken,Lose myself,Be left behind,Be turned down,Feel unprepared,Be used, Or get even get hurt, The fear to not live life to its full potential is like being a hermit crab buried away in its shellLet your self out, release the bars, fences and ropes that bind you from livingStop working and start living your life full of chancesLife truly is short and every step you take, it gets shorter, so make those steps count!Throw those what ifs out the door and take your own pathBuild your steps to life and say

I will

e go about our days the same way Blending each day together as one whole set

Letting the moments that make our lives worth living, seep through the cracks!We all dream to do more, but seem to stay within the boundaries that we have setWill we truly be happy with a good job, a nice house and a beautiful family?Or will living a life of adventure and chance be the life for you?

Which memories will be more worth it in the end? To be surrounded with the people you love…To have the job you dreamed of your whole life…To have memories full of chances that you never passed up…Or many chances that you never took, simply for the fear of it not going according to plan?

We all wake from our slumber only wanting to be still submerged in our dreamsIf it wasn’t for that ringing that started our day off, we would still be lost in our own worldWhy can’t we make those worlds a reality, by simple saying, what if?

Your life was different, you didn’t have to worry about work, family or your future

Rather live in the life that we were all givenHave the will to truly thrive in the world around us

To be the person you always wanted to be and not have to wonder,Why didn’t I do; that, go there or try this? By simply pulling the what if question isn’t enough!We need to go for it every once in a while, not keep them in our dreamsRather hold those dreams and experience them to the fullest! Start saying What If?

What if I could live forever,Could go back in time,Could never fail,Could see yourself the way others do,Could live someone else’s life,Could do anything you wanted,Could spend one more day with someone you lost,

Could truly be happy!Those thoughts are always in the back of everyone’s minds but what if you did more than wonder

What if you truly learned to live your life the way you always wanted toTo have no strings attached, to do any thought that

?!

W

By Jenny Paq

In October of 1926 Coco Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in Vogue. It was calf-length, straight, and decorated only by a few diagonal lines. It

caused quite a stir in the world of fashion back then; it was the Little Black Dress.

On October 1, 2012, the Little Black Dress will be 86 years old and yet it shows no signs of aging! Can you believe it? It knows no specific style or size boundaries. Whether it costs $6,000 or $25, whether it’s a size 1 or a size 18, it is still a little black dress. And every woman wants to own at least one little black dress.

Perhaps more than any other designer, Coco Chanel was the one who made it universal; she told us to wear it (for any and all occasions) and we did. She did not invent the concept. Back then black had been used just as a symbol for mourning, until Coco Chanel introduced the little black dress. When Coco Chanel died in 1971, the little black dress was traced back to her, and her legacy was cemented Vogue Magazine’s French edition of November, 1926, referred to the dress as the “uniform of the modern woman,” while in America it was called “Chanel’s Ford,” symbolizing the fact that Henry Ford’s mass production of the car made it affordable and therefore accessible to all.

The little black dress remains a symbol of simplicity and sexi-ness. This dress is used by women of all different age groups and can be worn for all types of occasions.

Joe Zee, creative director of Elle Magazine, says you can never go wrong with a little black dress. “You don’t want to be caught in a situation where you don’t know if you’re dressy enough,” he says. “A simple black dress is always sophisticated enough but not over dressy.”

So if you do not own a little black dress, I suggest you get one. This dress will save you from those “What am I going to wear?” days. The little black dress is a girl’s best friend.

When reading a story, would you like to know the ending or speculate as to what happens? Charles Dickens’ last book The Mystery of Edwin Drood

the ending remains a debate to this day. The Last Dickens, written by Matthew Pearl, is an historical

the clerk of an American publisher is supposed to deliver Charles Dickens’ last manuscript is found dead, James Osgood has to head across the Atlantic Ocean to acquire the manuscript, hoping it’ll save his struggling business. With help from his bookkeeper and Daniel’s sister, Rebecca Sand, James and Rebecca run into twists and turns as

One of the better novels I have read in the past few months is Randy Susan Meyer’s The Murderer’s Daughters. This novel developed an intriguing idea—what happens to the children of the “bad guys” who are caught? Do they move on? Do they carry scars? Do they even remember the tragedy that colored their lives? In this compelling novel, the author examines exactly that—the effects of the gruesome murder of their mother, no less—on the daughters, Lulu and Merry. The book begins with a violent act—the father murders the girls’ mother in an alcohol fueled rage when she attempts to kick him out of the house. Older sibling Lulu doesn’t get the neighbor fast enough (she’s only 9 years old)

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almost dies in the melee as well.The rest of the novel follows the girls’ lives as they grow up, become adults, and try to escape the memories of that fateful night. The novel is made more ambiguous by the existence of the father, languishing in prison, but still communicating with

.pihsnoitaler a niatniam ot gniyrt dna srethguad sihShifting perspectives in the telling of the story really keep the reader fascinated. It’s not a particularly happy read, but it is full of the stuff that makes one think. And feel.

The Lost Dickens

The Murderer’s DaughterRandy Susan Meyers

Summer television is famously triv-ial or reruns, but the USA network is running a great show on Sunday nights—Political Animals, starring Sigourney Weaver. The story revolves around a contemporary political family—Weaver plays Elaine Barrish, the ex-wife of a philandering former president and

.etatS fo yraterceS tnerruc ehtSuggest any real-life political

tries to juggle her job, her own presidential aspirations, political machinations and backstabbing, her ex-husband and her two sons, not to mention her mother, ac-tress Ellen Burstyn, who does a wonderful lush! This show makes you feel like you are really part of the beltway in Washington, DC—fascinating TV at 9 PM on Sunday nights. Enjoy it!

Political Animals

TV

BOOKS

Recommends

by Jenny PaqJenny is a fashion design major. this is her first year attending ILIS. Her hobbies include writing, sewing, soccer, and swimming. When she is not working on school projects, she loves hanging out with friends and playing soccer with her brother.

When Chanel designed the Little Black Dress. She didn’t do just that she changed the world of women’s fashion forever.

THOMAS MILLER

I started out working part-time as a video editor when I was sixteen. I worked for a very small local

company that was recently founded by a friend of my parents. We did mostly weddings and birthday parties. Very rarely, we would do some local commecials.

Working in the field gave me some exposure to the industry. It also exposed me to photography. Although the company’s specialty was video, my boss would eventually do some photography too. He had the first DSLR that I had the experience to play with. I quickly became interested in photography and purchased a camera for myself with the money I was making as a video editor. Shortly after, I started assisting other local photographers during the weekends. About a year later, when I came to the United States as an exchange

student, I got fairly well known as the photographer for my high school yearbook. It was a very small school in Riverton, Illinois. Our graduating senior class must have been bigger than a hundred students. While studying in the US, I heard about a scholarship competition to attend The Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg. I had never really put too much thought into seeking a career in photography. To me it was just a hobby. It was something that I felt I was good at. I never the less put together a portfolio and wrote an essay and sent my application in. To my satisfaction, I ended up winning.

After, I was done with the exchange student program, I went back to Brazil to visit my family. After four months I was ready to come back to America to start my formal education in Digital

THOMAS MILLER

Cont...

Photography. It’s been about two years since I’ve been here, and I feel like I have grown and learned a lot, not only about photography, but about life, responsibility, living with others, and so on. It’s been a very interesting experience. I’m very glad I took my chances I undertook it.

As for my photography, I see myself more as commercial photographer. People ask me specifically what kind of photography I would like to pursue. I am uncertain. I tend to answer, “Whatever there is demand for.” I try to be as versatile as I can. I figure that as a Digital Photography student, I should try to experience a little of all the different fields of photography before I jump to a conclusion. I remember that when I entered the school I was very much interested in photojournalism. My interest started to shift slowly, and now I have almost no interest at all in that field. I recognized that I like working on composed and well thought out photographs. I also acquired a taste for working within a theme.

Within the past year or so, I have given a shot at product, food, editorial, and action photography. I have enjoyed all of them in different ways, but it is still hard to tell. When I was younger, my dad used to tell me that it didn’t matter what I was doing, as long as I was doing something. It didn’t matter if I was doing karate or playing

tennis, or reading books about Norse mythology or economics; what mattered was that I was out doing something as opposed to sitting in front of the television. That’s how I feel about my photography. It doesn’t really matter what kind of photography I pursue right now. As long as I keep working hard, and keep trying and striving to improve my work, my photography will eventually amount to something.

Looking to feature your work in our next issue? Contact us at:Impressionalistmagazine@gmail.com

1/2 cup mayonnaise1/4 cup pickle relish1 tablespoon ketchup2 cups shredded cabbage2 teaspoons vinegar1 teaspoon caraway seeds1/2 of an unsliced oblong loaf of bread6 ounces Havarti cheese sliced, or your choice of cheese8 ounces cooked turkey, sliced or chopped

Turkey Reuben LoafWash the cranberries.

Then, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the white sugar and brown sugar into the orange juice. Add cranberries, return to boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes or until the cranberries start to pop. Remove from heat.

Place the sauce into a bowl. Cool at room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator. The cranberry sauce will begin to thicken as it cools.

Wash the cranberries.

Then, in a medium saucepan over me-dium heat, dissolve the white sugar and brown sugar into the orange juice. Add cranberries, return to boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer for 10 min-utes or until the cranberries start to pop. Remove from heat.

Place the sauce into a bowl. Cool at room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator. The cranberry sauce will begin to thicken as it cools.

Cranberry Sauce

½ cup white sugar½ cup brown sugar1 cup of orange juice1 12 ounce package of cranberries

Specialty Recipe

Sweet Potato Soup3 large sweet potatoes4 cans chicken broth1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake sweet potatoes in preheated oven until soft, about 1 1/2 hours (you can also use a microwave). Remove and let cool slightly.

Peel sweet potatoes, and pure with chicken broth in batches. Bring puree to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in the sugar, salt, nutmeg, black pepper; cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cream.

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Danuta Fadulais a graphic design major. She went to The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago for two years and transferred to Schaumburg the beginning of 2012. In her free time she likes to design invitations, cook, garden, and do anything that is adventurous like skydiving.

Thanksgiving DinnerRecipe Corner

Dear My Two Cents:

I am a freshman at the college and have recently moved away from home for the very first time. In the past weeks since I have been gone, my parents back home are talking about separating and maybe divorcing. I am horrified! My mom says she was just hanging on while there were kids at home, and I am the youngest. Now it seems the nice, comfortable, stable home I thought I had was just an act. I am so angry at both my parents for fooling me this way. Should I move home and try to get them to patch things up? Or should I plan on never going home again? I am really upset about this turn of events. Can you help?

Sincerely,Troubled Child

Dear Troubled,

Studies show that children raised in two-parent families develop healthier relationship habits than those raised in single parent or divided families. Be grateful that your parents made your happiness and stability a priority. However, now that you are officially on your own as you embark on your life as an adult, your parents finally have the opportunity to focus on their own happiness. Focus your energies forward and not on the past. You don’t have to choose sides here. Take some time to express your feelings, and grieve for their marriage, but set a time limit for a sensible grieving period. When that time is up, pull up your bootstraps, accept the new reality, and make the best of this new stage in their lives.

Sincerely,My Two Cents

Dear My Two Cents:

I confess, I was quite the jock back in high school—and I am a girl! I loved to participate in sports, in team chal-lenges, and I loved to play games involving all kinds of physical activities. Now that I am here in college, I miss the activity. Everyone is too busy to go for a run, or play a game of tennis, or do anything active, for that matter. And I just don’t get vegging in front of the computer or TV all the time. I need some action! Especially now that summer is here—what do I do? I feel better when I move around, but I can’t interest any of my friends into going with me. I haven’t found other people with similar interests—do you have a solution for me?

Sincerely,Sporty

Dear Sporty,

You are in an excellent position to be a positive influence on your friends and this campus. See if you can start a club focused on weekly activities. If that doesn’t pan out, you can join existing groups such as those found at www.meetup.com or www.livestrong.com which are prevalent in Chicagoland. If all else fails, join a gym and participate in group activities such as tennis, racquetball or Zumba class. Whatever you do, don’t give up on your healthy interests just to fit in with other students.

Sincerely,My Two Cents

Dear My Two Cents:

This is an election year, and I am pretty interested and involved with what is going on in the political scene. I love reading about the candidates and the issues, and I am really into devoting some time to working for causes I believe in. I actually manned the phones for a political candidate in my neighborhood over summer break. I re-ally like feeling like I know what is going on. My friends at college, though, just think I am weird. They don’t follow politics at all and in fact aren’t’ even aware of who the candidates are for the upcoming election. They even seem to believe that there’s no value in politics—that it all is controlled by the people with money, and that’s not us. How can I persuade my friends that I am not weird and maybe get them to take an interest in something that I am pretty sure will affect them, whether they like it or not?

Sincerely,Active Voter

Dear Voter,

It is admirable that you are aware and involved in the current issues. Our country needs more young people to become involved in the process! The key to your solution is in this school being populated with creative minded students. Perhaps you could combine the current politi-cal issues with a creative activity by developing a game that pairs cause and effects between political issues and how they affect your friends’ lives. Keep the game visual, tactical and humorous. Then, the next time you have everyone together (perhaps by hosting a party), break out your “entertainment.” People tend to admire others who have a passion and who act upon it in a positive way. Your evident passion can inspire others, and that’s not “weird.”

Sincerely,My Two Cents

Dear My Two Cents:

I am very uncomfortable around another student. He is kind of big and intimidating, and he seems to have taken an interest in me, but he does it in all the wrong ways. He kind of scares me, to be honest, and kind of gets too close when he talks to me. Really, what he says isn’t very scary, but it is how he says it—with all kinds of intensity, and assuming I understand him when I really don’t. How do I get away from this guy who is freaking me out? I really don’t want to tell anyone about it, especially at the college, because I don’t want to get him into trouble—I am afraid that would just make things worse.

Sincerely,Scared Student

Dear Scared,

I see two possible solutions here: you can change your routine to minimize your exposure to him, or you can sit him down for a heart to heart. Be gentle but direct and tell him what is turning you off. If you truly don’t feel threatened by him, this will help cut through his awkward and overly intense nature and you may have a unique opportunity to see a gentler side of him. If you do feel threatened, however, don’t try to have this heart to heart alone. In that case, you should enlist the aid of an adult at the college—your advisor, your department director—and let them know what is going on and how you feel.

Sincerely,My Two Cents

2My Cents

Why did you decide to come out with your own CD?It is easier, for me, to express myself melodically as opposed to verbally. My musical voice allows me to tell my story: the things I’ve gone through and the things I go through every day.

Why is this project so near and dear to your heart?When I was born I only weighed 1 lb. 8oz; the doctor told my mother I would only live a few hours because I was a month and a half premature. For hours they waited for me to take my last breath. Miraculously I kept breathing. I know I am here for a reason; I have a purpose, to play beautiful music with every breath God gives me. It’s not that I want to finish this CD; it’s that I have to.

When you become a music super star what are you going to do with all that money?I have a nephew who suffers with Cystic Fibrosis. Because of him a portion of the proceeds from every CD sale will go towards the fight against Cystic Fibrosis.

How would you describe your personal sound?I would say my sound is a fusion of smooth jazz, contemporary gospel, R & B, and Pop. These are the types of music that has influenced the soundtrack of my life.

What is the best part of being a musician?The adrenaline rush I get playing in front of a live audience, and getting that initial response of their appreciation of my music. I also enjoy making music that my wife, of 18 years, and four sons can be proud of.

At the end of the interview I had a clearer picture of the man behind the music, and I was eager to dive into the project. First we decided that we would do a 30 second commercial that will be featured on his website. After coming up with a variety of ideas we decided the commercial should be very motion graphics based. I showed him a project that I completed for my motion graphics class, and he really liked how the images and music told a story.

I recruited Spencer Lantz and Joseph Lukowski, both Digital Film students, to help in the production of the commercial. I had worked with Spencer before but Joe was fairly new to me. We had a great time shooting the video and Andre treated us to a private performance of one of the songs that will be on his CD. I must say we were all very impressed with his talent. Andre and I have plans for a video to promote the CD launch.

Note: Expand the pool of students that you work with. There is a good resource of GOOD people outside your circle of friends. You don’t want to overuse your friends; they have projects of their own, and working with the same people all the time may be a liability rather than an asset.

I hope this article inspires you to think outside the box, step out of your comfort zone and interact with as many people as you can while you are in school. The things we can accomplish together are limitless.

Don’t be one dimensional. It is important to expand the quality of your projects. Every class you take is knowledge and skill waiting to be exploited.

Andre Simmons is a Web Design student with a passion for music. He is currently in the studio working on his debut CD entitled “Trust in Him,” a jazz inspired gospel CD, soon to be released. A few quarters ago Andre and I had a Digital Typography class together and after talking with him it became clear that my knowledge as a Digital

Film student could be an asset to marketing his debut CD, and his web design know-how would be invaluable in designing a website to showcase the work that I am doing. Thus, a partnership was born. Before we got started I sat down with Andre and asked him a few questions to get to know him, as an artist as well as a person.

Mu ical Not

photography by Joseph Lukowski

by Nakia Ford

“But when “talkies” were starting to win audiences over, the silent films were on the way out and so were many of the stars that were

once so beloved.”

Today when we watch movies expect to hear sound. We expect there to be talking and foley and ambience, but over 90 years ago, movie-

goers were just happy that a moving picture was before them; it was a visual experience. With only music to accompany it, often played by a man with a piano and the sheet music or an impromptu at the local theatre, audiences never heard the actors/actresses voices. And so for that, talent came from around the world.

But when “talkies” were starting to win audiences over, the silent films were on the way out and so were many of the stars that were once so beloved. Some actors and actresses from the silent films have stood the test of time, but some were quickly forgotten about like a speck of dust in the wind. I’m sure you could name Charlie Chaplin, Buster Ke-aton, and Greta Garbo (who was one of the lucky ones to transition to talkies). But how about Lillian Gish or Max Linder?

When sound was intro-duced to film, with one of the earliest examples being The Jazz Singer in 1927, a silent film until Al Jolson sang and spoke a few words, a whole new era in filmmaking was beginning with silent film stars ascending and descending. Unfortunately, although silent film stars could act and bring to the screen their character without speaking, some lost their careers when “talkies” were becoming big news.Since some stars were not even American-descent, audiences were surprised when they heard an abroad accent or some voice that wasn’t pleasing to the ears.

You couldn’t just have a pretty face and act, you needed to have a voice that matched.

A well-known classic film, “Singin’ In The Rain” (1952), portrayed the transition from silents to talkies and how a pleasing voice was necessary to their image. The film showed the difficulty behind the scenes of taking a silent film and turning it into one with voices. A hu-mourous and lively portrayal contrasted to another well-known classic, “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), the story of a former silent film star that was forgotten in history. Although, some silent film stars were able to continue their careers after silent films, some were not so lucky. In 2011, the film The Artist, written/directed by Michel Hazanavicius, made its way into theatres. Some au-

diences were surprised when they had not expected it to be a silent film, and in some cases, were disappointed and wanted their money back. But despite audiences reactions, The Artist had won itself an Academy Award.

There are many, many silent films from the early 1900s that

have been lost to history. Big names in Hollywood that once mattered only to be forgotten. The beginning of film that didn’t have a voice to stand on, but something to always remember.

The Thing of the Past?Silent Films:

Back Cover

* Contributing to this issue: Judi ErtzPhotography by Thomas Miller

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