This is a big week for CityBeat as we turn 10 years old. To me, it's a pretty big deal that an alternative newspaper can survive in this conservative town for a decade and be successful. I'm proud to be here, proud to be a part of it.

Who would've thought this column would be celebrating its one-year anniversary at the same time? Certainly not I. I didn't expect this Web site column to last three months, let alone a year. I never really thought the publishers would get behind this column and, when it started last November, I agreed to be a contributor only. It was never my intention to become the one responsible for getting the thing out every week. But always expect the unexpected at CityBeat.

For the most part it's been fun, but sometimes it's frustrating. Over the past year, 49 L-O-L's have run. Fifty-two were written, but the Web editors have been known to forget to put it on the Web site. Oops. If you go to the archives for this column, in two places you'll find two different versions of a story. Oops, we forgot to edit the original version. Oops, we forgot to take the unedited version off the Web site after the edit. You kind of see our mistakes as we go.

Of the 49 columns that have run, I've written 33. In looking back, I find I've written two bus stories, three essays about dating and relationships, four stories about where I live (Gaslight ­ Clifton) and, to my shock, five stories about getting older and the problems I have with that. Maybe when it comes to this subject, I want my readers to also be my therapist.

Sometimes I write something that I think is pretty good but receive no response. Other times I write a piece that I think is just "words on the page," but the letters and e-mails roll in. Sometimes I write something innocently and it comes back to bite me in the ass, as when I mentioned I had "burned" one of Kim Taylor's CD's. I learned my lesson on that one -- always purchase, never burn.

I've also learned that the "World Wide Web" does exist. I've received e-mails from Budapest, Australia, London and from all over the United States. I've been called an asshole, a shit head and a jerk. But I've also been called a good guy and a good writer and some have said my personal stories are my best. When it comes to this column, I take the good with the bad.

I've been lucky to have other writers contribute to this column. When you get done reading this piece, take a few minutes and stroll on down to "Previously in Living Out Loud" and click on "More." This will bring up the archives for the column and there are a few stories I'd like you to check out if you missed them the first time around.

Susan Burke Steege's The River talks about separation and loss when two young cousins die in a flood in 1997. It's personal and touching. Gregory Flannery's "Time for New Tactics" talks about the need for more vigorous protesting. With the results of the last election, this piece is timelier than ever. In September, Sara Beiting wrote back to back L-O-L's about what it's like to be a diabetic -- "Diabetics R Us" and "Black and White with Shades of Gray." While the stories are told with a lot of humor, her strong emotions about the illness come shining through. Jeffrey Hillard's tale, "Death of a Radiohead" is chilling. I think you're laugh out loud at "CityBeat's at 811 Race Street," written by Bob, our mailman.

We've talked about the homeless, stalkers, chain letters and singing cicadas that take song requests. We've discussed Pete Rose, squash porn, aging writers awarded overnight successes and eating goose liver at the Maisonette. We've tackled the subjects of AIDS, grocery store hazards, horoscopes and penises the size of Chipotle burritos. Basically, we've been all over the map.

I think that's all right. I think, for the most part, life is just that way.

Last fall, when trying to come up with a name for the column, I suggested "Living Out Loud." This was the title of a 1998 film starring Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito. While the movie wasn't anything special, I always liked what the title means.

Living Out Loud: paying attention, being open to new thoughts and ideas, being in touch with who you are, being involved with your life and, yeah, having a little fun along the way. If there's been any kind of overriding theme in this column, I hope that's it.

Thanks for reading. Live on.