Steven Helmer Publications

I did get out for a walk today but didn't see nearly as much as I did yesterday in terms of things I could photograph. However, since there were still a pair of sandhill cranes hanging out by the pond, I decided to get some more photos of them. Here are a couple of them: _______________________________________________________________________ Here are some other bird photos: In Flight Some Heron Photos Bird Feeder Photos 11/10/2018 Some Bird Photos from Around the Yard

It's been a while since I've had the trail cameras outside because I just never got around to buying new batteries for them. However, my cat, Stormcloud, saw something a couple nights ago that got her agitated to the point she clawed her way through my daughter's bedroom window screen in the middle of the night to go after it. We fortunately found her unharmed a couple minutes later because she apparently changed her mind and didn't go past the windowsill and since I was curious about what she saw, I decided to get the batteries and re-deploy the trail cameras. I'm still not sure what got her so worked up, she's brave but not brave enough to tangle with a raccoon twice her size, but I did get some photos. Here they are: ___________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous trail camera photos: A Couple Trail Camera Squirrel Photos (2/14/2026) Trail Camera Photos (11/10/2024-11/12/2024) Trail Camera Photos (10/3/2024 - 1...

Synopsis: In a dystopian Pasadena ruled by Barry Kripke ( John Ross Bowie ), comic bookstore owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) is visited by an alternate version of himself and learns an accident with a device invented by his friends has caused an alternate reality. He, along with geologist Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn) search for the device and with help from his former girlfriend, Denise ( Lauren Lapkus ), try to bring the world back to its normal state. My Thoughts: This should have been a movie. Not necessarily a feature-length Hollywood-budgeted film but maybe a 60-to-90-minute pilot that deep dives into the main plot and sets up the story for the rest of the series. There was an awful lot being crammed into the 30-minute episode, making it seem rushed and making it difficult to become invested. I have so many questions about dystopian Pasadena. For one, when did society collapse? The episode suggested it happened during Stewart's lifetime but at the same time, everyone seemed...

After some uncomfortably hot weather the past several days, we are back to some cooler temps. This made my walk at lunch a bit more enjoyable because I didn't end up drenched in sweat.  The city recently did some landscape work at the park, opening up some areas that were previously difficult to get to because of high grass. This did lead to me getting some photos, like the one of the sandhill cranes below that I probably wouldn't have gotten.  Here are some of the photos I took: _____________________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photos: Lunchtime Walk Photos (7/6/2026) Lunchtime Walk Photos (7/21/2026) Morning Walk Photos 4/27/2018 Some Heron Photos

One thing I've always found interesting is how easily it is to become emotionally invested in characters on a television series. You know they aren't real, but when that show goes off the air, you still feel as though you've lost friends. I think this is a big part of the reason spin-offs are so popular. I feel that way about The Big Bang Theory which, with the debut of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe tonight, will have its third spin-off series (though one is technically a spin-off of a prequel) and will emphasize some of the secondary characters that helped make that show great.  As I think about the original series while debating if I'll watch the new spin-off tonight or tomorrow morning, I find myself contemplating each of the seven main characters and how they all changed at some point during the show, some more than others. While those changes were over the course of the full series, I was able to pinpoint the moments I think had the biggest impact for each of...

I ended up cutting my walk a bit shorter today, both because I had a lot of work to do at the office and because I didn't want to scare a heron (last photo) that was fishing near one of the trails. I did still manage to get some photographs though. Here are some of them: _______________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photos: Lunchtime Walk Photos (7/6/2026) Lunchtime Walk Photos (6/3/2026) Morning Walk Photos 7/26/2017 Some More Walk Photos