The two-legged zebras (referees) will now present the netiquette (etiquette on the Web) “rules” for this site:

· No all-caps-all-the-time SHOUTING. Use bold, underline, or ital to stress something.

· No impolite posts or replies: e.g., “Why do you keep making the same mistakes?”

· No blatantly rude posts or name calling: e.g., “Bite me, Stupid.”

· No obscene four-letter-word-variety posts. (Occasionally, show-offs, with nothing better to do than try to impress their friends in the only way they can, post F-word statements and questions and other “grossffiti.” These posts will be vaporized—an electronic term for “Grow up!”—as soon as technically possible, the posters tracked, and their IP addresses blocked.)

· Play nice. Be considerate. Have good fun.

From the Let’s-not-be-Hypocritical-Here Dept.:
Do some of us occasionally get a tad shady or randy, offer a slightly naughty innuendo or a double-entendre here and there, commit an intentional peccadillo? Yes. But no more than you now see in major, upstanding daily newspapers and the venerable, respected weekly news magazines these days: tastefully funny if a little off-color. We’re basically adults here, and besides, young kids who drop in probably think anything risqué on this site is utterly, boringly pristine compared to what they say to each other, see in print, and hear from each other each day at school, in e-mails, or over cell phones and in movie theaters. End of sermon.

So, wow! You actually made it this far down without folding. You should be rewarded! Go right ahead and jump in. Join the fray. We, and you, will all be glad you did. It’s a piece of cake from here. Your next posts get easier.

Big, big tip of great, great relief: Once you register, get OK’d, and post a post—be it an original post or a reply to someone else’s—only to realize you’ve made an egregious, career-ending (it feels that way sometimes, believe us) typo or grammo or screw-up or something, you can immediately edit your own posts, (nobody else’s). Just click on the “edit” icon/rectangle, upper right area of your too hastily-conceived and posted contribution. Your original “raw” draft will appear for you to adjust, preview, re-post, and then say “Whew!” while fanning and recomposing yourself. Sometime G&LMB “silent angels” (i.e., G&LMB readers) may contact you via personal message or e-mail, in back-door-courtesy fashion to politely let you know they’ve spotted a goof/gaffe in your post, so that you can go back into your own post and fix things. Remember: every writer/author is his or her own worst editor. We all flub the dub occasionally.

Again, Welcome! Now go for it!