On our first day of the tour Shakeshift and I met up at a
rinky-dinky 7-11. I remember the place looked so shady that as I sat in my car
waiting for him to arrive I was 90% sure I would get mugged at gunpoint.
Once we finally reached Virginia I remember it being so cold
outside that my toes, which were cozily cradled in fuzzy socks and a nice pair
of leather boots, were numb from the freezing cold weather. Shakeshift said he
couldn’t believe how someone who seemed over dressed for the level of cold
outside couldn’t retain their body heat.
This lead us to reminisce about our adventures last summer
at Fetishcon. On the night before a big
shoot with Star and Ariel Anderson at Fetishcon I was sound asleep under a
mountain of blankets. Shakeshift prefers the cold, where as I prefer heat, so
once he thought I was sound asleep Shakeshift got out of bed to change the
thermostat to 60 degrees. Way too cold for Miss. Claire V! Later that morning I
awoke from the cold air piercing through my protective fleece barrier.
Shakeshift, who was already awake laying in bed and probably checking emails on
his phone, looked over and smiled at me. “Good Morning!” he exclaimed. He then
realized the look on my face was a mix of pure exhaustion and haterage.
He asked “What’s
wrong, didn’t you get enough sleep?”. I explained that although I my eyes were
closed I was not actually resting. The cold had kept me up so I had only gotten
an hour of sleep. He apologized so much that he let me skip our morning meeting
with the Fetishcon staff to sleep in, and he was sure to turn the heat up as
high as it will allow in Tampa. After about 30 minutes of rest in the heat I
was awake and chipper like any other morning, ready to start the day!
After stopping at the much needed liquor store and the bank
we finally made it into the city where the real challenge began that would
affect the whole outcome of the trip: packing the car. My four bags of various
costumes and boots were not a problem for the S.U.V. but once we added
Shakeshift’s eight bags it was nearly impossible to close the doors of the car.
I remember after I finally tetrised the car and got all the doors closed by
throwing all my weight at them Shakeshift came out of his house with a crate
full of chains. He looked so sad when he asked “Will the chains not fit?”
Unfortunately between the cattle prod, bag of boots that weight more than me,
and Hawkgirl wings there was not room for the chains.
To thank me for my mad tetrising
skills Shakeshift took me to an amazing little café that sold 72 types of
bubble tea. I love bubble tea, ever since I found it in a remote little family
owned Asian restaurant I have to get bubble tea once a month. While we were at
the café I sampled Taro, Royal Milk, and inquired about the Red Bean flavored
tea. I had never had red bean before and was eager to try something new, but
unfortunately they were out. So I asked the man behind the counter to describe
it too me.
The look on his face was priceless. There was literally no way for
him to describe what Red Bean tastes like. I too have run in to this
predicament before when a friend of mine told me to describe what sauerkraut
tastes like. It’s very difficult to describe the nature of something that is
unique and unlike anything you can relate it too. Shakeshift saw how excited I
was about drinking bubble milk tea that he bought me TWO teas. I decided to
settle on Royal Milk tea and Strawberry, my two new favorites.
It seems so ridiculous to me how upset people can get at another person
over driving. Sure we all experience road rage, I am no exception, but I would
never get mad enough to get out of my car just to give someone a piece of my
mind.
I remember last year when we
shot a Bionic video of me running alongside the car I fell and hurt my leg
badly. Jessica Nova ran over to me and picked me up fireman style, like the
white knight she is, and carried me back to the car. Once we arrived at Lady
Julie’s house Julie took care of my wound and nursed me back to health; but not
before Shakeshift could use my bloody leg in a medical shot for the Bionic
video. 
