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Recently, supermodel Marisa Miller was in Hawaii to promote the opening of Victoria's Secret at Ala Moana Shopping Center. I had a chance to chat with her during her appearance on the KHNL News8 Today morning show. I found her to be warm, sweet, down-to-earth, and pleasant.

I actually didn't know who she was before her agent pitched her. I guess it's because I am not a man, and because I'm not in the fashion industry. In researching the story, I found out she has been the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover girl for like, 50 gazillion years consecutively.

Of course, looking at her swimsuit photos scared me, because that meant I would have to actually sit next to that luminous creature and look comparatively like some troll. (Chuckle, chuckle.) She's 5'8" and in heels, she was like, the Eiffel Tower.

Marisa came to KHNL with a small coterie.

In addition, several guests we already booked arrived an hour earlier than their spot so they could sightsee as well. It was like Bishop Street at noon in the newsroom. I told everyone it'd be nice if they could each take a cubicle so it would look like full staffing at 5 a.m.

"My rep didn't forward me your script!"

In a break, I ran back to meet everyone, and did a quick interview with Marisa for this blog (because I knew she was gonna dart right after the segment.)

I chose to focus on her love of surfing. She is from Santa Cruz, California. I know this area because I attended US Santa Cruz for my freshman year, and believe it or not, learned to surf in Santa Cruz! Says Marisa, "I grew up on the waves. My parents met at Privates beach, and from very early on they put me on a surfboard. I for a time ran a surf school."

In her quiver: a 6'10", a 6'5", a longboard, and her latest interest, a stand-up paddleboard. "I don't get on the water as much since I work a lot," she qualified, "but it's a great workout when I do."

Favorite spots to surf at home: Manresa, Pleasure Point. Here in Hawaii, she surfs Waikiki, but watches her husband tear up North Shore. She also likes the breaks on Kauai.

Marisa says she loves the ocean, and would love to travel to the Maldives to do some diving. Amazing she hasn't been there since she's been everywhere else for her modeling assignments!

And if she weren't a model, she told me she might like to be a - wait for it - sportscaster!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8GVutY65cc