When worlds collide

Paris Hilton lets her hair down - sort of - to Barry Koltnow in the OC Register. Now there’s an odd couple for you – and then we discover that Paris will be at Macy's at South Coast Plaza on Friday to promote her new footwear collection. So that explains it. Anyway, she offers up the usual gibberish about how 99 percent of the stuff written about her is not true. Here are some snippets from the Q&A:

OCR: What is something truthful about you that people wouldn't know?

PH: How hard I work. They don't realize I run a huge company. I go to board meetings. I travel the world constantly on business. When I go to parties, I'm getting paid to be there. It's a promotional event. It's not all fun and games.

OCR: When did you start getting paid for showing up places?

PH: When I was about 20. I decided that everybody else is making money from my appearances, so why shouldn't I? Who wouldn't want to get paid to show up at a nightclub?

OCR: How do you motivate yourself to work so hard when you're born a Hilton?

PH: My father instilled a work ethic in us from an early age. He wanted us to do something with our lives. And to see what my grandfather and great-grandfather accomplished is motivation enough. My great-grandfather started as a bellboy and became one of the most successful men in the world. I don't want to be some woman who sits around and does nothing. I have so many friends in Hollywood who grew up with money. They're spoiled and living in their parents' guest house. Their lives are miserable.

OCR: People don't realize that you earn a great deal of money on your own.

PH:I bought a new house and six cars with my own money. I don't need someone else's money. I don't need to marry a man with money. I could marry a plumber or anyone else who's nice to me.