the real victim here is tinkerbell, of course

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Dear L.A. Times and Paris Hilton,

It was interesting to learn that Paris will be doing more time than 80 percent of inmates in a similar situation. (And by “interesting,” I mean that I feel thoroughly disgusted with myself that I’m not blogging about Gaza right now.)

Yes, apparently being rich and famous occasionally works against you, in the same way that being white occasionally works against you. I think it’s fine to call out these moments of injustice, even to “analyze 2 million jail releases,” as the Times did, or to cry really hard and hug your parents, as Paris did.

I just hope that both of you have spent equal time questioning the privilege that led to this smidge of anti-privilege. Paris, I hope you spent just as many nights lying awake in your pimped-out Simple Life trailer wondering, “How did I get my own TV show? How come the richer I get, the less I have to pay for?”

Similarly, Times, I hope that somewhere in those 2 million cases, you notice that there’s a hell of a lot of other things going on with California’s jails and judicial system. I hope you write a story about some of those other things, and I hope I make the time to read it.

Sincerely,

Cheryl

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi, Cheryl, this is Armando De Avila - we went to CalArts together. I see, very belatedly, that you published the story collection you were at work on and I just wanted to say congratulations on that and all of your success. Really really proud of you (if you'll forgive the patronizing sound of that).

Miah told me about it and I googled you and see that you also have a novel in the works through some other website. Pretty great. Take care, keep it going.
June 20, 2007 at 5:24 AM
Cheryl said…
Hey Armando! Great to hear from you. (Somehow whenever smart people from my past find me, it's when my most recent post is about Paris Hilton or Anna Nicole Smith, and I feel a little bit like, "Yeah, so, uh, this is what I'm doing with my life.") Email me at meadowbat[at]yahoo.com and tell me what you're up to!
June 20, 2007 at 8:53 AM
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