Eye of the Tiger, baby. Eye of the Tiger.

[thehefner]

Further developments in Heffie's ongoing struggle to get in shape (in time for Halloween pictures).

So a few days ago, in an effort to maintain my personal trainer Carolyn's prescribed diet of 3-8 egg whites every morning, I went to Whole Foods to get more cage-free organic eggs. If I'm gonna gulp down egg whites, you bet I'm gonna go for the organic kind. However, it was 9pm, and Whole Foods was closed, so I was forced to go to Safeway. They had *one* container of the cage-free organic eggs, but one seemed like enough, and the next morning I had my egg whites as usual. However, I felt paranoid for the rest of the day. I'm fine, of course. If I weren't, Mom assures me, I'd know it soon enough. But you guys know me. I'm a worrier. I'm the Worrier King!

Fast forward to just an hour ago. I'm working out with Carolyn, she's kicking my ass as usual, and I decide to share this story with her, to hopefully alleviate my own paranoia and take my mind off the burn.

ME: So I've been feeling a little paranoid over the egg whites lately...

CAROLYN: What, you're concerned that you've been undercooking them?

...

...

...

ME: ... nnnnnno. I've... been sucking them down raw.

CAROLYN: !!!!!! WH--WHUH--WHAT?! RAW?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! OH MY GOD!

ME: But... but... I thought that was the point.

CAROLYN: NO! JESUS CHRIST, NO!!! ISN'T THAT DISGUSTING?!

ME: ... yes. They're raw eggs whites. Isn't that the whole point?

CAROLYN: OH MY GOD!!! WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WOULD POSSESS YOU TO DO THAT?!

ME: But... but that's what Rocky did!

CAROLYN: YEAH, BACK IN 1976! HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?!

So of course she had to tell one of her co-workers, this strapping big trainer who was making this little middle-aged suburban mom do crunches. Nearly breathless, Carolyn forces herself into story mode and regales past five minutes to her colleague...

CAROLYN: And he's been eating them raw.

GUY: Oh yeah, I've done that.

CAROLYN/SOCCER MOM: What?! Really?! GROSS!

GUY: Sure, a lot of guys do that. Wait, you use the organic kind, right?

ME: Totally.

GUY: Psh, yeah, you're fine.

CAROLYN: I can't believe this. I'm so sorry for not being more specific. But why the hell wouldn't you cook them?

ME: Because... honestly, I can't stand cooked eggs. They make me throw up.

CAROLYN: Jesus!

ME: With the whites, I can use my patented Irish Car Bomb technique and suck 'em down in one slimy, flavorless gulp.

CAROLYN: Ugh. Wow. Can you put that on a résumé?

ME: I think it'd attract the wrong kind of people.

Carolyn let me go home after that, bowing and chanting "We're not worthy. We're not worthy." The other trainer and the Soccer Mom, on the other hand, announced my triumphant departure by singing, in unison:

Duh-dun da-da-dun da-da-dun da-da-dun, da-da da-da-dun da-da-DA da-da-dun...

Comments

[mirthical.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure Harvey would let Wayne take him that way. I mean, how old was Harvey when the Waynes were murdered? Was he old enough to be past the point of "I can beat you, old man, you can't push me around anymore"? I got the impression that Bruce and Harvey were around the same age, and Bruce couldn't have been that old... maybe 12?

I'm not sure Harvey would have been ready to leave his father at that stage in his development. And if Harvey's father was more and more wresting control of Harvey away from the Waynes, (as it were, since it was really a grab for power over Harvey from Harvey himself, much more than from the Waynes. Probably Harvey's father believed it was from the Waynes, though) that would speak even less to the Waynes "dropping by" when they knew it would upset Harvey's father who would then take it out on Harvey.

I feel like Harvey's father is not the only force keeping him from jumping ship - I think Harvey himself does not want to leave, not at this point. I really think only after he has the physical confrontation with his father can he start to think about getting out.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Since I'm having Bruce and Harvey be around the same ages, they couldn't be more than seven. That's the age that it's generally agreed the Waynes were murdered. Harvey doesn't finally snap back and defend himself (although going too far, of course) until he's fifteen. He hasn't kept in touch with Bruce since a little after the night they were murdered, and doesn't really see him again until the day Joe Chill is killed (the BATMAN BEGINS scene).

I think that final observation about Harvey not wanting to leave is very astute.

... hm. Should we just altogether avoid the topic of "What the hell were the Waynes thinking of walking through Crime Alley?"

[mirthical.livejournal.com]

If you can paint a vivid-enough picture of the Waynes as the philanthropics who believe in the good in people, and were tragically skeptical of other people's fears of places like "Crime Alley," I wouldn't even address the topic. Show me, don't tell me, as my writing teachers have always said. Someone who reads this story should decide for himself that Thomas Wayne wanted to believe in the good in people, even when it put him and others in danger.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Very well, then that's where my focus shall be.

Because as genuinely noble as they were, yeah, they'd never know exactly what life was like down there. They couldn't.

That "show, don't tell" is going to be exceedingly important in forming Gilda as well. I'm nearly done with my second draft revisions of those scenes. I'll run 'em by you eventually, of course.

Oddly, I'm keeping that Harry Potter defense of yours in mind. Remember what you said about the fandom? I'm starting to think it's a matter of giving the readers just enough information to let their imaginations take them away to fill in the gaps, even if it's gaps entirely of their own devising.