Iconic musical legend Patti Smith may have been thought of as an outsider, a rebel, a punk, someone who was an artist for other artists. But, blessedly, she was called upon to perform recently at the HBO Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's historic (and absolutely electrifying) concert with a list of luminaries from the King of Blues, B. B. King, and Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, to such rock and roll royalty as Mick Jagger and Sting. She was radiant on stage performing, "Because the Night" with Bruce Springsteen who owns the publishing rights to her only radio smash hit. Journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote a moving tribute to Smith on the eve of the publication of "Just Kids" (Ecco Press, 2010), a memoir of her relationship with queer photographer Robert Mapplethrope (yes, they were lovers in the youth and even frequently had sex), and the other men important in her life, poet Jim Carroll and playwright/actor Sam Shepard, not to mention her who's who of friends and acquaintances, the Beat writers William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, actor/songwriter Kris Kristofferson and legends Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, to name a few more that will be talked about. Her husband, deceased Fred "Sonic" Smith, and her two sons, Jesse Paris 22, a composer, and Jackson, 27, figure into her "manscape" but it is the passion, devotion, dedication, undying and forever lasting love between the 63-year-old girl from New Jersey and the controversial and internationally celebrated photographer from Queens, lost to AIDS, in 1989, that will consume most of the pages of "Just Kids." She now laments the New York City that she once knew and loved. "This city is not supposed to be the biggest, the baldest, the most expensive, the hippest. Now kids go to Brooklyn . . . What about Newark, yeah, maybe that's it," she reflected.

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Queer handsome, hunky, dark and swarthy Mike Ruiz, model turned photographer, always wanted it. He got just what he wanted, too, because, as early as 17, he followed his dream, even if he had  to deceive his parents, leaving Montreal, presumably to go on a "camping trip" while, instead, he had all along planned to take a bus to New York City to seek out celebrities and celebrity. As a young fan with such sheer will power and determination and a lot of Ruiz confidence, he sought out the likes of Brooke Shields who has later photographed with others of the same caliber--Vanessa Williams, Kelly Clarkson, Queen Latifah, Kathy Griffin, and, of course, his close friend, RuPaul, who also ended up directing in the 2007 cult classic movie, "Starbooty."  Nowadays, after a 15 year career that continues to rise to the top, his fashion and beauty images have appeared in Italian "Elle," Brazilian "Vogue" and Vanity Fair, to name a few, and definitely a far cry from his first stint for a startup British gay magazine at the time, "Attitude," that he still acknowledges for giving him as "a late bloomer" in the creative field (Ruiz was 30) his start. Talking recently to journalist Christopher Lisotta (METRO, February/March 2010), Ruiz shared both his observation and advice about turning from model to photographer (Bruce Weber being another): "People ask if it is a natural progression. There is no skill set I acquired as a model that facilitated photography. The only thing that it did was present photography as an option. It made it obvious to me it was a viable career."

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Lesbian comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer has been doing the circuit for years, it seems, and, somehow, she never gets older or tired or passe. She recently kicked off her national tour of "Totally Inappropriate" last week in Denver where journalist Matt Kailey caught up with the always delightful Westenhoefer (OutFrontColorado, January 13, 2010). Her brand of comedy is what's called the classic "improv," not a rehearsed script but working in and of the moment, making up the performance as she goes, getting the groove of the audience for any particular night--right on. She has a mastery of the comedic form. Is she appropriate or more inappropriate with her material?  Well, that's one of the best things about her new show on tour. [But] it's definitely "very hard to explain, very hard to package, makes managers and publicists and promoters very upset," she admits, "They want like, 'What are you going to say?' And I'm like 'I don't know. But it's gonna be funny.' I don't know what to say when they ask me that. It's like, 'Good question. Let me get back to you.'"  But Westenhoefer swears that some of the best comedy, hers included, comes directly from immediate experience. She recounts her performance on the inaugural of the new women's cruise company for Sweet Cruise. "We left from New Orleans. The night we left--eye of a hurricane. We actually went around this hurricane, so we were on the edge of a hurricane. It was--I've done 30 cruises--it was unparalleled chaos. It turned out to be--I don't know it was just because we all went through it together or what--[but] it was like the coolest thing ever. It was terrible when it happened and crazy and stuff was flying off and breaking and people were sick, and then 24 hours later, it was all like (laughing)--oh, my God, we were having hurricane drinks and hurricane parties and 'How much did you vomit during the hurricane?' And it was completely twisted, and there's something about that."