(Kind of Like "My Dinner with Andre" but with just coffee and a Chickenpurse)
Anyone who has read this blog (there has to be someone!) knows of my admiration for Dia Zerva: wrestler, erotic performer, clipstore maven, chickenpurse lover, and all-around babe. This admiration has always been from afar - Dia lives in Las Vegas and most of the companies she works with are in the west. I tend to stay on the east coast with occasional business trips. As much as I would have liked to meet her, the odds of doing so seemed extremely slim.
The first inking that there was a possibility was a tweet she sent out in November:
Dia: Morning! Boston rain is lovely & heading to NYC to do sessions with my bud @RachelFights ! We have some times available:)
Excuse me?
Me: @DiaZerva You were in BOSTON!?!?!
Dia: @BBVinny yup all work and no play
Me: @DiaZerva I wish I had known! I'd have brought you some cannoli or something :(
While missing this opportunity was disappointing, it raised a glimmer of hope - she came to Boston once, maybe she would again. In December, my hopes were realized:
Dia: @BBVinny cheers mate! Will be in Boston In February!
Me: @DiaZerva Coming to Boston? YAY!!! In February???? Bring boots! (the ones for snow - not just the stomping kind ;) )
Me: @DiaZerva February? That means I only have less than two months to clean the state up!
Dia: @BBVinny and cannolis!:p
She remembered the cannolis! She wanted to meet me! To say I was psyched was putting it mildly. It took some effort not to jump up and down while I was reading.
Of course the path to achieving one's desires is never smooth. I was prescient about my boots comment - Boston had over 70 inches of snow in January, which at times brought the city to a standstill. I started worrying about travel.
Me: @DiaZerva I'm beginning to wonder if Boston will be accessible when you come here :(
Dia: @BBVinny I heard there are snow monsters out that way! You think it will clear up end of next week?
Me: @DiaZerva I will dig out all of Boston with a teaspoon if that helps you get here! ;)
Dia: @BBVinny haha awesome! Well please keep me posted if you don't mind! I'm looking forward to Boston!
Me: @DiaZerva BBV Weather Services at your command ;)
I truly believe I held off any more major Boston snowstorms from that point on through sheer willpower. Finally the day came when she arrived in Boston. I sent her a tweet:
@DiaZerva So, how do I get you cannolis? ;)
No response. Nothing. Nada. Was it something I said? Did she google my name and find some other BBVinny on a police blotter? The reason was actually pretty simple:
Dia: Sorry cookies! Busy next couple days so if I don't reply to your twitter post, you're not forgotten! Muah!!!
There was nothing I could really do about it. She was in town on business and I wouldn't want to interfere with that. I tried to put my best face on it.
Me: @DiaZerva Oh well, I guess cannolis will have to be some other time :( I hope you are having some fun in Boston despite being so busy :)
I was disappointed - this was the second time Dia was in town and I wasn't able to even say "hi" to her. Then I got the following DM from her:
I haven't left my hotel room since I landed yesterday morning lol. I take a train out 8:40am if you wanna meet at 6am? :( working til 11pm
Holy freaking smoke! She really wanted to meet me? She was obviously suffering from sleep deprivation. Before she came to her senses, I sent her a message saying that I'd drive her to the train station. So that was why at 6:00 on a Saturday morning rather than being asleep I was sitting in a hotel lobby trying very hard not to look like a creep.
I admit that as I sat there I started getting worried. Was I a creep? Was she going to take one look at me and run? I had an image of Dia based on her blog, her YouTube posts, and our tweets. I wondered if I built her up too much in my mind.
I am happy to say that my fears were unfounded. In the Boston vernacular, Dia Zerva is a WICKED AWESOME person!
First of all, Dia is as pretty and sexy in person as she appears in her work. She was dressed in a knit dress/tights outfit (with very stylish accessories - not that I know anything about that) that had me using all my maturity and suaveness not to shout "YOWZA!!!"
She is a very cheerful person. She smiled almost the entire time we were together, even though she was very tired from all the hours she had put in. She charmed everyone she spoke to: front desk people, redcaps, and of course me.
She is a hugger - I got one when we met and another when she left. As a fellow hugger it was greatly appreciated! To paraphrase Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon: I am a man who likes hugging someone who likes to hug.
I also met the famous chickenpurse (if you do not know what I am talking about you are not a true fan). Pictures do not do it justice.
Dia was in what she is calling her gypsy period - crisscrossing the country and Europe for several months working. Because of this, she had slightly less luggage than Hannibal did when he crossed the Alps. The amount is understandable because she was not only carrying the clothes she would need for all that time but also her work outfits, the equipment she needs to hold sessions, shoot and edit clips, etc. (I'd love to watch the HSA examine some of THAT stuff). Fortunately, my car has a large trunk so there was no problem loading it all in.
When we got to the station we got coffee (Dia bought) and sat and talked. It was like talking to someone I had known for years. We talked about our lives, people we knew (a shout out to our Taki), work, travel, etc. I want to emphasize something: Dia really didn't know me. She had no obligation to meet me. She was tired from working long hours and getting up early to catch a train. Yet she made the effort to meet me before she left. That is the kind of person she is.
When she finally left to get on board the train, five minutes later I wished she was back. I don't know if I will ever see her again - I hope I do - but I am extremely happy to have met her.
Oh, she also punched me in the arm - DAMN, she's strong!
