The Signal's Stephen K. Peeples -- Valencia-born Playmate Tamara Witmer

Ohio, near Columbus. She graduated high school in Dublin in 2002.

"I went to preschool at Vista Village and elementary school at Wiley Canyon," said Witmer, speaking to a reporter (who loves his job!) on the phone from her present home in the San Fernando Valley. "I used to go to Magic Mountain all the time because we lived five minutes away. I was also on a swim team and played soccer in Valencia."

Witmer returned to Valencia for visits about once a year after moving to Ohio. "Probably five or six years ago I really noticed this huge change," she said. "The area had really expanded. Everything was a lot newer and more developed than I'd remembered it."

Witmer has been modeling since she was three, when she appeared in a men's fashion catalog. "I had to play the baby daughter of an older guy," she told Playboy, which, with a monthly circulation of 3.15 million copies, is the world's best-selling men's magazine. "I would get excited, then scared, then bored and want to go home. I'm still such a homebody."

In addition to catalogs, Witmer has modeled for calendars and swimsuit and fitness magazines such as Women's Health, Fit Body and Physical. "I just modeled casually throughout school, and then picked it up more seriously when I was 18, after I graduated," she said.

Witmer said she first saw Playboy magazine when she was about 15. "I just remember thinking the girls were so beautiful and that, wow, they really had some good girls!" she laughed.

At the time, Witmer didn't see herself posing in the magazine. "I never really thought about it until a couple years later, when I thought, 'This would be cool to do,'" she said.

The Playboy shoot in Ensenada by Arny Fretag came about after Randy Pearlman, a Marina del Rey fashion photographer, submitted some swimsuit photos he'd taken of Witmer for a calendar. Pearlman asked and received her permission before sending them, she said.

Joining the sisterhood of Playmates has many perks. "It's great exposure," Witmer said, without missing a beat. "Being in the best-selling men's magazine is a good opportunity to get my name out there, to meet cool people. It's great going to the parties at the Playboy Mansion and meeting other girls - it's just a completely different lifestyle from anything I've ever experienced."

In the story accompanying her photo spread, Witmer told the writer she has no special talent. This is refreshing, because many women in modeling have other aspirations and would never admit to being talentless.

"Oh, well, thanks," Witmer said, taking the compliment. "A lot of girls say they really want to get into acting, and that's something I'd consider if someone offered me a part. But I just don't have the training for it, and [taking acting lessons] is just something I would never do."

Witmer also told the Playboy writer she had no burning ambition. "For now, I'm just kind of focused on modeling, so that's really all I have planned," she told this reporter. "But who knows? Maybe I'll want to go back to school or something."

One of Witmer's most recent gigs was the "Lingerie Bowl" at this year's Super Bowl.

"It was lingerie and swimsuit models playing football during half time," she said. "It was a lot of fun."

In addition to the pages of Playboy, Witmer can be seen right now in Eminem's video for "Ass Like That," from the rapper's latest album. The clip is airing on MTV and other video outlets.

"It's kind of a spoof on young Hollywood," she said. "I was on the set for probably five hours and [Eminem and I] sat together for like three hours while they lit the scene. He was being kind of goofy with everyone on the set. I thought he was really cool, a really nice guy."

What's next? "I'm doing an East Coast tour for Miller Beer starting Aug. 14," Witmer said. "It's called 'The Playboy Tour' and goes through New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh."

Sorry, fellas — no West Coast leg is planned.

The August issue of Playboy will be on the stands until Aug. 14.

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