I started “Living Out Loud” as a web column for Cincinnati CityBeat in November of 2003 and since June of 2005, we’ve been showing up in the print edition the second issue each month. Since it’s birth, the column has been pretty much all over the map about life in general and also what it’s like to live in Cincinnati – why we like it, why we hate it.

If you haven’t been reading us, go to the LOL archives (www.citybeat.com) and find out what you’ve missed. Other contributors and myself have talked about almost everything – dating, relationships, strange bus rides, panhandling, stalkers, drug testing, restaurant closings, city council, AIDS, global warming, drunks, dogs, racism, going to the dentist and child abuse.

Sometimes we talk with local writers, sometimes national ones. Sometimes we’re funny, sometimes we’re serious. We write mostly essays, but don’t be surprised to see a fiction piece thrown in every once in a while. We’re about life. Outloud.

The idea of doing a Living Out Loud blog is to get your take on what’s happening around you. In the weeks ahead, me and other contributors will be bringing up issues in our city and our take on it. Don’t be surprised if sometimes we talk about ourselves a little bit also. We do get personal sometimes.

We encourage your comments to the blogs that will be posted and this is also an open invitation to submit your own words to me. Tell me what you like or don’t like about our city – and if there’s something else on your mind, that’s fine too. E-mail me at lgross@citybeat.com

Larry Gross