SCOTT SWAN:  And that leads into the next question.  When you were in school were you the hot girl of the class?

MERCEDEZ:  No.  I did a Jenny Jones From Geek to Chic one year ‘cause I was just not good looking in high school.  I didn’t have like all the boyfriends or anything like that.

SS:  Really?

M:  Yeah.  I wasn’t nerdy or dorky, I just was not the cutest girl.

SS:  That’s unbelievable.  Wow.

M:  (Laughs)

SS:  I’ll have to research that.  Is that something that’s common knowledge?

M:  No, I don’t think so.  I have it up on my website, but, y’know, I don’t think a lot of people read the bio on my website.

SS:  Actually I read the website and I have a question about it.  Are you going to put up more pictures?

M:  Oh, yeah.  The website was being run by someone else and I was hired on as a model.  But now my contract is up with Vivid and I took over the website.  In about a week you might want to look at it again.  The design they did, that was them.  Now that I’m taking it over and I’m running it... it’s something that reflects me more. 

SS:  There’s a new sheriff in town.

M:  Yeah, and the site is awesome.  It’s amazing.  It’s got five shared sites on it.  I run it, I update it.  I decide what goes up.  So it’s great.

SS:  What’s the subscription cost?

M:  There’s an $8.95 trial, and then I think it’s $29.95 or it’s like $50 for three months.  So you get my site and you get five other sites.  It’s a really good deal.

SS:  I think I read on Vivid that you’re a vegetarian?

M:  No.  I’m from Texas.  (Laughs)

SS:  Oh, so you like barbeque?

M:  Yeah.

SS:  When you go back, what type of restaurants do you hit?

M:  I don’t know.  I like Sushi.  What type of restaurants do I like when I go to Texas?

SS:  Yeah, because when I go to Texas I eat barbeque.

M:  Oh, yeah... like on the side of the road when you’re driving through there.

SS:  I especially like the restaurants where you don’t know if they have a chain saw in the back or not.

M:  Yeah, they have all the animals stuffed on the outside.

SS:  I also read you’re a health food nut.

M:  Yeah.

SS:  That’s true.

M:  I did fitness modeling before I signed with Vivid in 2003.  But fitness magazines don’t pay you.  Once they said no pay I was like, not good.

SS:  I also think I read on there that you are Mexican-American.

M:  Yeah, I’m Mexican and my grandma’s Italian.

M:  Because we’re fiery.   I think we’re more passionate.  Um, I think there are so many beautiful Latin women out there right now that guys fantasize about.  We’re definitely a lot more voluptuous body-wise.  You hardly ever see a Mexican girl that’s like (brings her arms straight down to illustrate a woman with no shape) that.  It’s very rare.  I think ever man wants a girl with body and when you put that passion and the fire together... it’s a good combination.

SS:  It seems like more men are interested in women who are voluptuous.  What do you think is responsible for that?

M:  I think when J.Lo came out, the booty came back in.  With Beyonce, Selma Heyak.  The most popular models now have bodies.

SS:  In preparation for this interview I went on the Vivid website and watched a movie of yours.

M:  Was it a good one?

SS:  I think it was the Latin soap opera one...

M:  Bellisima.

SS:  I noticed you have tattoos.  How many do you have?

M:  I have two.  I have a little sleeping dragon on my tummy.  And I have an Aztec Indian on my leg.

SS:  What was your motivation for those tattoos?  What do they impart?

M:  The dragon is, I don’t know, I just got it ‘cause I thought it was cute.  The Aztec Indian is my background.  My dad’s part Aztec and it’s got the Mexican colors on it.  So, it’s part of me.

SS:  This is your last shoot for Vivid.

M:  Yeah.

SS:  Are you getting teary-eyed?

M:  No, I’m not teary-eyed.  (Laughs)