VISUAL ARTS

Outside the box, in art and life

Early each morning, accompanied by her fluffy white Maltese, Coco, Lydia Rubio dives head first into her strangeness. The feeling of otherness may be common among artists involved in the lonely, unchartered task of creating. But Rubio feels her isolation acutely.

'Roadfood' warriors share South Florida discoveries

Bestselling authors Jane and Michael Stern have crisscrossed the country countless times to sample the best regional eats for their ''Roadfood'' franchise.

CELEBRITIES

Dancing out from under Alonso's shadow

Lorena Feijoo, prima ballerina of the San Francisco Ballet and once the star of the internationally celebrated Ballet Nacional de Cuba, has appeared on far more important stages than the one on which she danced in late March when she performed the lead in Carmen at Miami's Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

CELEBRITIES

Chopra's mantra: spread the wealth

Spirituality guru Deepak Chopra has just checked into his room at Casa Casuarina, Gianni Versace's winter palazzo-turned-hotel/party venue. He has been put up in the Safari room, he tells you when you meet down by the mosaic-bottomed pool, and he's trying to get over the fact that he's going to have to spend the night there.

CELEBRITIES

Bobby Flay's love affairs with N.Y., food -- and politics?

Bobby Flay, the native New Yorker who champions Southwestern cuisine and made his name by elevating chile peppers, cilantro and corn, may put his culinary career on the back burner one of these days, he says.

'The L Word' ends with a deadly sixth season

Poor Jenny. Everybody wanted her dead, and now she is. In Sunday night's opener of the sixth and final season of The L Word, the groundbreaking girl-on-girl melodrama fans have swooned over and bashed in equal measure, we see the lifeless, kooky novelist rolled from Bette and Tina's house on a gurney.

CELEBRITIES

The Barefoot Contessa has a recipe for success -- living life

It's hard to believe Ina Garten ever worked for the government, given her straightforward style. The Barefoot Contessa is not into complicating things.

CELEBRITIES

A Starck vision for Miami's new Icon

Everything goes dark as you drive through rows of dramatic Easter Island-inspired columns to get to the valet at Icon Brickell, the newest project by über developer Jorge Perez featuring madcap opulence by famed, Paris-born designer Philippe Starck.

LUNCH WITH LYDIA

The Gentleman: Hot R&B crooner/songwriter Ne-Yo aims to resurrect the Rat Pack's cool

Ne-Yo, R&B's new heartthrob, comes down from his room at the South Beach Gansevoort Hotel, and although he has never met you, he pulls you into a warm kiss and a hug.

FILMS

Filmmakers turn focus on Godmother

If you know hip-hop, you know how much the culture exalts its gangstas. It's all about the stacks of cash, the drugs, the gun-waving bravado and the shoutouts to Tony Montana.

LUNCH WITH LYDIA

Still smokin' -- and not just the cigarette

Antonio Banderas, casual in a long-sleeve T and olive cargo pants, is being bad. He is in the middle of a long press day, talking to one reporter after another about his role as the suave (if hairball-hacking) Puss In Boots in Shrek the Third, which opened Friday.

Halle Berry: Fab, 40 -- and fidgety

Halle Berry looks flawless even with the harsh noon sun invading her hotel suite. At 40, she can play characters much younger. But genetic blessings and an Oscar in 2002 for Monster's Ball are not enough to help her feel secure in Hollywood.

Lunch with Lydia

Lunch With Lydia | She's, like, so not like that

Paris Hilton, willowy in a floor-length dress, speaks in a certain sing-song that comes and goes as she munches on fruit at the Shore Club's Ago. She can so speak in that little girl high-pitched thing where everything ends, like, in a question mark? And she can speak straight, punctuating thoughts with periods, her voice a normal grown-up pitch.