Merritt profile picture

Merritt

anything worth doing is worth getting hurt for

About Me

I am a female in a very male dominated industry. I spend a lot of time around cars. When I am not around cars I don't know what to do with myself so then I just spend that time at the gym or in the pool. I am an engineer at Turbonetics Inc. during the week. After work I train with a US Masters swim team. I'm getting older but not slowing down. Weekends are often spent at some racetrack, car show, performance shop, swim meet or rarely my couch.
My typical day is filled up with work, swim practice, gym time, eating, and sleeping. It is difficult for me to stuff anything else in there. I have the tendency to experience health issues but I keep going strong. They are just little speed bumps that slow me down briefly.
I was once highly involved in the whole Honda tuner scene. I had a nice JDMed out EK daily driver/show car/track car. I then moved onto an '04 E46 M3 for a bit. I did some light modifications and enjoyed driving it in the occassional track event. Now I have an '07 BMW 335i. There are many things in the works for this car... Aside from my daily driver I am now more likely to be found at the track playing with Nissans than Hondas. I typically work with Sentras/200SX, 350s, 240sxs and Skyline GT-Rs. I was apart of a team that ran an R34 GT-R in the Speed SCCA World Challenge series in 2006. I also have a 200sx that will be my dedicated track car once I get all the parts... I call it the purple dinosaur (Barney is probably copywrited). I am trying to get my website up to speed on all I do, but it is difficult. I hope to spread my automotive knowledge to others through writing as well. Look out for stuff...

My Interests

modifying and racing cars
road racing
drag racing
drifting
studying vehicle dynamics
competitive swimming
running
gymnastics
keeping my body in good working order
skateboarding and the art involved
my website merritr.com
being a computer nerd
japan
hello kitty
nike dunks
improving my golf game
r34 gt-rs (and r32 and r33)

I'd like to meet:

People with stories to share, knowledgeable opinions, and interesting ideas.
People who share my passion for cars and swimming.

Music:

there's so much out there that i love but to name a few:
311
jimmy eat world
jets to brazil
bright eyes
hey mercedes
sunny day real estate
the fire theft
the postal service
death cab for cutie
modest mouse
the mars volta
interpol
the faint
thrice
guns 'n roses
firebird band
mos def
j5
talib kweli
gangstar
nas
common
atmosphere
aesop rock
kayne west
tribe called quest
sage francis
hieroglyphics
etc...

Movies:

virgin suicides
lost in translation
fight club
donnie darko
david lynch films
lots of violent war movies, silly teeny bopper flicks, and quoteable comedies

Television:

i don't get a chance to watch tv all that much, but when i do it usually involves: cars
usc
redskins
wizards
mythbusting
simpsons
family guy
south park
etc

Books:

atlas shrugged
the foutianhead
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
a separate peace
the dancing wu li masters
seabiscuit
charlie and the chocolate factory
catch 22
anything by carroll smith
the unfair advantage
sport compact car
racecar engineering
car and driver
grassroot motorsports
racecar vehicle dynamics
turbomachinery

Heroes:

my father
lance armstrong
the ultimate of cool that is steve mcqueen
all the pros who make a living doing what they love

My Blog

end of the My Space blog

I'm not a huge fan of the My Space blog format.  Most people I know use Blogger so I am going to make use of it too.  I like that you can post via multimedia text message.  This will be...
Posted by Merritt on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:05:00 PST

just glad i don't work in media...

Primedia buys Modified...Now they need to sell themselves...Primedia in $1B Auction...
Posted by Merritt on Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:21:00 PST

new car? maybe...

I really think I am going to swap the M3 in for a 335i coupe.  It has identical performance AND it is twin turbo charged.  There might just be a little bit of incentive for me to have a turb...
Posted by Merritt on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:19:00 PST

NYSE Opening Bell

My father recently visited the New York Stock Exchange in order to take part in the opening bell ceremony.  The ringing of the opening bell is webcast on the NYSE website everyday.  I found ...
Posted by Merritt on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:28:00 PST

new jobby job

I started a new job this week.  It is a bit of a commute, but traffic hasn't been bad... yet...  I now work at Turbonetics Inc. which means designing all things turbo.  Now I have my ey...
Posted by Merritt on Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:04:00 PST

my lame ass 25th birthday

I just got home and my birthday is over.  My day started out in Kansas City er no I mean Overland Park, Kansas (because apparently there is BIG difference).  From there I split off from ever...
Posted by Merritt on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:38:00 PST

merritr.com updates

I am FINALLY taking the time to get my website up to date with my life.  I am in the process of a bit of a redesign.  I am getting caught up on the new advances in HTMLing...  It will t...
Posted by Merritt on Tue, 05 Sep 2006 04:46:00 PST

quick update

I guess things are starting to look up again. When everything starts flooding in again at once though it is hard not to have a day where realization sets in.  Yesterday I had one of those days. I...
Posted by Merritt on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:46:00 PST

everything always happens at once

How come everything seems to happens at once?  You can sit around for a couple months thinking and waiting... Eventually it comes to a point within a couple weeks where things get rolling.  ...
Posted by Merritt on Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:57:00 PST

Change is good... I guess

Things change in life too much to keep it documented.  The month of June has been a bit of rest a recovery from the past year.  I am taking a little time to do whatever I want (to an extent)...
Posted by Merritt on Mon, 26 Jun 2006 02:27:00 PST