The subtitle of Larry Gross’ latest independently published book says everything you need to know about its content, which largely consists of his Living Out Loud columns for CityBeat: “Adventures, Discoveries and Conclusions Made While Exploring a Life — Namely My Own.”   

Ah, summer: a time of blissful carelessness, rash decisions, heat-induced mistakes and occasionally painful life lessons. (Remember Sallie May from the summer of ’01? Didn’t think so.) The old adage that art imitates life couldn’t be truer than during the months of May to September, when Hollywood peels off its clothes and adopts that “go big or go home” mindset.  

Cincinnati is full of gay people. Full. Of. Them. Gays and lesbians operate at every level on the community, from the bartenders at your favorite Clifton pub to doctors and lawyers in downtown firms. They cook your meals. They connect your calls. They tell you that you look fat in skinny jeans. It’s just like Fight Club, but with gays.  

America has a monumental decision coming up Nov. 4. Do we elect as our president - the theoretical leader of the free world and the individual who we expect to lead us to the Promised Land - an old guy who's been in public/political life for more than...  

I'm sitting at the bar in Buddakhan restaurant at 713 Vine St. downtown. It's late Thursday afternoon, and I'm having my usual vodka and tonic. I'm starting to feel more relaxed, less grumpy. Maybe the surroundings have something to do with my improving mood.  

Why`s kaleidoscopic musical output conjures a host of descriptors, the most accurate of which might be the Oakland-based band's own genre-spliced classification: "Pop-inflected Psychedelic Folk Hop." The brainchild of Cincinnati native/former cLOUDDEAD member Yoni Wolf, Why? started as a one-man bedroom project (2003's Oaklandazulasylum).   

My head’s killing me this morning. I have a headache because I’m thinking too much about same-sex marriages and all the judgmental crap that goes with it. I have Gary and William, my gay friends — indirectly — to thank for the Tylenol I’m taking. I met them in the fall of 1994.   

with a few of them, like ‘Flame,’ our sort of Disco number. If I’m honest, I think our strongest stuff is the moanier, wrenching stuff, but we wanted to get beyond that and do joy, because we’ve never really done joy before, convincingly. For us, it’s really hard and we’re very inspired by bands like The Flaming Lips, who do it so well.  

If you’re buying art from someone you trust and who has a decent reputation, there is a great possibility that you could get a return on your investment. We always tell our young collectors, “Buy one good piece. If you need to pay for it over time, most people will work with you.