S. A. E. Miller, Ph.D.

I was excited to sit in the first row by the photographers for the Worn to be Wild Fashion show in Norfolk Virginia. What a great time and so many fashionable and creative people! The theme was leather jackets that go along with the Chrysler’s current exhibit. Here are my highlights!

I am not sure if it is a secret or not, but I love Franz Kline and all his work. One of my favorites resides at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk Virginia. Here, we see Kline’s work come out of the `black and white’ era with his experiments in color. These action paintings were well planned and almost always were products of carefully planned preliminary studies. Kline painted with industrial or common house paint, instead of finer studio paints used by his contemporaries. This caused some strife with the galleries whose customers wished for more archival works. The flat shininess of the work along with many splatters, and the many whites, yellows, blues, and blacks are apparent because of this choice.

This weekend I enjoyed a rendition of Carmina Burana by the Virginia Symphony, Chorus, and the Richmond Ballet. The best part of the performance was attending with my friends. Carmia Burana was restricted to after intermission. It was a surprise to me to find other performances before intermission. It was also my first time in Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA. The architecture seemed to be 60’s inspired.

Last evening I went to see Macbeth at the Regent University. The dialogue was generally unmodified from the original play. The set, costumes, and props were something out of a post world war three era in the year 2114. The year is not a typo! Music in between scenes was heavy metal / rock. The set was the same between intermission. The highlight for me were the costumes, especially those of the three witches. They were excellently performed and were an obvious audience favorite.The use of a `tazer’ in place of the king’s scepter (at least that was my interpretation) was fun. I really enjoyed the production. Tickets were 17 dollars for an adult. Here is my picture of the program cover, that shows a transition between life and death divided by the sword.

My colleagues from NASA Langley and myself went to the Pongo (Virginia Beach, VA) World War 1 Airshow. This airshow is exciting because we can walk right up and around the planes while they are not in flight. The airshow is connected with a museum. The entire museum consists of multiple hangers with many planes from before the Great War through the 1950’s. Most of the aircraft are in working order. There are also actors. Between flights of the aircraft, RC pilots take the stage and perform dog fights. There was one unfortunate accident and thankfully nobody was hurt. There are also limited vintage cars and engines. Usually on the evening of the first day (this is an annual event) there is a steak dinner. This airshow is one of the best because the crowds are relatively smaller. At the end of the show multiple F-18 aircraft flew over on their routine flights. That was a nice coincidental end – by transitioning from early aircraft to relatively modern. My highlight was the Curtis Flyer replica. Finally, the weather was beautiful. The best part of the trip is the company of my wonderful friends!

This is the beginning of a series of posts to illustrate the theme of walled gardens, unicorns, hunters, and the ivory tower. This painting contains many symbols. The walled garden is symbolic of Mary’s chastity. She sits on the ground dressed in robes with verse, this shows her humility and encourages the viewer to pray. The castle in the back left is symbolic of the ivory tower. To the right, hunters look for the child. The child is sometimes depicted as a unicorn.

I was recently awarded (officially on Sept. 14th 2014) my certificate and pin for five years at NASA Langley Research Center. I’m most thankful for the great friends I’ve made within the NASA family.

Today I viewed the play, `The Glass Menagerie,’ by Tennessee Williams at the Regent University. It is the first play of their 2014-2015 season and is part of their MFA program. The cost was seventeen dollars and my seat was furthest right (frame stage). Actors used the entire space and were often feet from the audience (from my viewpoint). I read the play a few years ago after picking it up at a used book sale. The set construction was elaborate for the size of the production, and the audience size was also small. Like many of Tennessee Williams works, the ending is more realistic to life than the endings we find in popular media. I thoroughly enjoyed the execution.

NASA Langley is opening up its new Integrated Engineering Services Building this month. It makes the center feel more like a campus. It contains the new Pearl Young Theatre, Reid Centre replacement, new cafeteria, new Afterburners, a new cafe that has drinks and food throughout the day, the Nav Center, training office, and the directorate offices (research, engineering, science). I’m excited to eat in our new cafeteria, that has an extensive patio on the north side. The Reid Centre has configurable rooms and will be more welcoming than the previous version (that was converted from a basketball court). There is an interesting bridge on the south side of the building that is surrounded by natural plants. Now only if my office was there, though I’m happy I’m with a research group.