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Paris Hilton, newly sprung from the clink, comments on the real Paris Hilton, not the one you see in all the photos, not the skinny bobbleheaded blonde with a vague resemblance to a pink Pez dispenser, but the real Paris — thoughtful, spiritual, and although you didn’t know it, an artist — and this is the one she wants you to know now:

“I work very hard. I run a business(1). I’ve had a book on The New York Times best-sellers list (2). I’m on the fifth season of my TV show.(3) I did an album. (4) I do movies.”

So, there you are. Businesswoman. Writer. TV actor. Singer. Film star.

Writer?

Sigh.

*****

1 - Hilton has said that a 20-minute appearance at a party can net her between $150,000 and $200,000. She also has a jewelry line on Amazon.com, a budding fragrance line, and has opened a Club Paris in Orlando with two more planned in Miami and Las Vegas. Her aspirations include launching a clothing line, a handbag line, an energy drink, and a boutique hotel chain.

2 - her memoir Confessions of an Heiress (2004). Currently #9,968 in Books on Amazon.com.

3 - The Simple Life

4 - The album: Paris. The label: Heiress Records. (in association with Warner Music)

5 - Films: Hilton made cameo appearances in several films, most notably Zoolander (2001). She landed minor and supporting roles in the feature films Nine Lives (2002), Raising Helen (2004), The Hillz (2004), and House of Wax (2005). Her role as Paige Edwards in House of Wax won the Teen Choice Award for “Best Scream” and earned her a nomination for “Choice Breakout Performance – Female”.[7] She also earned a nomination for “Best Frightened Performance” at the 2006. She landed her first lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon’s Pledge This! (2006) and Bottom’s Up (2006).

Sources: Wikipedia (yes, there is an entry on Paris Hilton); www.buzzle.com; CNN

Summer is officially still a few days away, but with the temperature due to hit something like 95 today, and the humidity in the 80 percent range in the mornings (dropping to 25% by afternoon because of the heat), it might as well officially be summer. And besides, all the signs are here. Yesterday, in the county, I saw a calf being shampooed and bathed in preparation for fair, which starts Saturday. Then, a pair of huge draft mules pulling a hay wagon loaded — not with hay — but with about twenty Amish. Mothers, fathers, and umpteen girls and boys, dressed in their Sunday best (all in black and royal blue), all out for a Sunday drive, apparently. And, in the fairgrounds, the games and rides and food booths are lining up as Poor Jack Amusements gets ready to set up for a week at the fair.

Signs of our drought are everywhere too. Parched lawns the color of sand. Bark chips everywhere dropped by miserable squirrels, who apparently chew the bark for any moisture they can find. The corn is shorter than it ought to be this time of year, my favorite farm stand is temporarily closed because of the drought, and I can’t help but wonder if the dearth of fireflies is also due to the drought. Maybe so.

When I was a kid, family suppers — especially in the summer — started late. Dad liked to work in his garden after coming home from work; Mom, who didn’t particularly care for cooking, tended to procrastinate the start of preparing supper until the last minute. As a cook, too, Mom was almost charmingly inefficient. Preparing a meal was an elaborate concentrated effort that took, seemingly, forever. Someday I will post Mom’s method of making grilled cheese sandwiches. They were very good, but — and I swear it — her method took almost 45 minutes. Per sandwich.

At the time these prolonged preparations drove me nuts; but now, I’d give anything to have those long summer evenings back: Mom tinkering in the kitchen while I sat on the stool with the fold-out steps and watched and we talked about everything, Dad tinkering in the garden, my brother puttering about with toys or books, and the sun slowly setting over the wide green yard.

When we finally did sit down to eat, the meal itself became a backdrop to conversation. Dad’s job, the garden, the weather, Mom’s flowers, the state of the world, ideas. And invariably, a moment would come when someone would say something about a subject and a comment would follow, usually prefaced by “Did you know…?”. Did you know that strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside? Did you know that Unitarianism originated in Transylvania? Did you know that tomatoes really are a fruit, not a vegetable?

And then the questions: Is that really true? Or: what makes a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable? Or: isn’t there some history of people in New England thinking tomatoes were poisonous?

And then someone would get up from the table — usually Dad — and go to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, select the appropriate volume, bring it back to the table, and then read aloud the pertinent information to answer the question at hand. Which would spark more conversation, more volumes brought to the table, and the supper conversation would linger late into the evening.

I still carry on the tradition of “did you know” at home, and with friends, and — of course — in my job of teaching. How could I not? To wonder, ask questions, and always be curious is a pretty good way of life. You’re never bored. Ever. The world is one big fascinating story. What could be better.

So thanks for that Dad (& Mom) — and Happy Father’s Day!