ORIENTATION

Welcome to The Lounge!  This is my personal website, not to be confused with similarly named sites, some of which are commercial.  It is a personal retreat, a lounge in the style of a comfortable den, not a sleazy tavern.  When it was created in 1998, I dubbed it "The Gent's Lounge," since at the time I was heavily into Internet chat using the nickname "Gent44."  In 2001, I spun off the controversial issues portions of the site as "Tangents," so as to keep the overall ambience of the Lounge mellow.  In 2010, I decided to drop the "Gent" part of the moniker.

This is an adult-oriented website, but only in the sense that it contains little of interest to youthful web surfers, save perhaps the most precocious.  I envision it as a hideaway from the turbulent world, where one may find the sometimes comforting and sometimes challenging company of ideas.  The site's major foci include hobbies, humor, fine arts, and travel, as well as organizations with which I am (or have been) affiliated.  Its objective is to share with you some of my personal interests, not to amuse and abuse the mass-market crowd.  I hope you enjoy it!
 

NAVIGATION

This website is organized with your convenience in mind.  It is easy to find what you want and to access related material, without having to dig through stuff that doesn't interest you.

THE WELCOME PAGE:  This is the first page of this site that you are likely to encounter.  In itself, the WELCOME page does not contain much of interest, but serves as a quick, general guide to the contents and features of the site, so as to direct you according to your particular wishes and needs, whether you are a first-time guest, a regular visitor, or a web-ring surfer.

THE MAIN PAGE:  This is the central area of the site, from which all other areas and features are accessible.  From here you can reach almost any document or feature with four or fewer mouse-clicks.  At the top of the MAIN page are INFORMATION and FEEDBACK menus.  Immediately below is a panel containing the site creation and modification dates, as well as useful tools for finding and copying material..  Below these are the INTERESTS menu and the AFFILIATIONS menu.  Following is a WHAT'S NEW information area, which lists major recent changes to the website; if things seem to have been moved about since your previous visit, this is where you'll find what has gone where.  Finally there is a menu containing several categories of LINKS to other websites.

SECTION PAGES:  After choosing an area of interest you will, in most cases, find yourself at a section page for the category you have selected.  Here you will find listings of related articles, data, links, and perhaps some introductory notes.

MENUS:  Site navigation is made easy by a hierarchy of menus.  As already mentioned, the major MAIN page menus list the general areas of interest; likewise, the SECTION pages feature menus of specific articles, data, and links.  In addition, almost every page features a site menu at the top and / or bottom, such as this one:

From such menus you can instantly access the associated SECTION page, as well as the MAIN page with its features and site-wide menus.  And on most longer pages there are page menus, located either on the left side (as on this page) or across the screen between items.  These allow you to skip quickly up and down the current page.  In addition, on very long pages there may be detail menus to assist in locating specific points.  On some pages, clicking the modification date (usually near the top right of the page) will take you directly to the most recent addition or change on that page.

When you are finished with a document, access the site menu by clicking TOP ( ^ ) or ( « ) on the local menu, or by pressing your HOME key or scrolling.  From the site menu you can go back to any previous menu, or jump directly to any of the major sections of the MAIN page.
 

FEATURES

INFORMATION:  About My Site / About the Staff / Site Index
At the top left of the MAIN page is a menu of information about this website, including an alphabetical Index of all articles and features.

FEEDBACK:  E-Mail
At the top right of the MAIN page is a menu providing access to communications features of the website, which have lately (and probably temporarily) been reduced simply to sending e-mail to the site owner.  Interactive features of this website require users to enter a code, which is provided on an Access page.  The purpose of this procedure is simply to distinguish human guests from automated web nuisances, so that the latter can be screened out.

TOOLS:  Site Dates / Using Material / Copyright
Near the top of the MAIN page is a panel displaying the site creation and modification dates.  This panel also displays a Using Material button to assist you in legally copying and distributing material from this site.
 

GRAPHICS

Because most of this website is text-oriented, I've avoided the use of garish graphics where they might interfere with the presentation of ideas.  As a result, most of my pages appear rather plain compared to the more eye-catching works of the web's many graphic artists.  Even so, I've made use of menus to assist in site navigation, tables to organize information, and background patterns to enhance visual appeal.  Colors are selected to offer variety while being easy on the eyes, and in some instances also serve as visual keys to subject matter.

There are some pages on this site which feature photographs as well as text.  But for the most part, the emphasis here is on artistry of a different sort, an artistry of words, wit, and whimsy, with a dash of wistfulness, and perhaps a jot of wisdom here and there.
 

CREDITS

This website was established on 6 December 1998 by S. A. Joyce — your humble scribe — on facilities provided by AT&T Worldnet.  When AT&T announced it would be closing its personal web hosting service in March 2010, the site was moved to a new domain, "www.4thr.org," which currently resides on host servers at StartLogic.  The website was created using Microsoft® FrontPage Express, and is currently maintained with Microsoft FrontPage 2002, with occasional applications of brute force and colorful language.  The site makes extensive use of background patterns by Sams Publishing.  Other graphics are identified on the pages where they're employed.

I'm indebted to many for their advice, services, and words of encouragement, and to those who have generously—and sometimes unwittingly—supplied me with ideas and materials.  (Individual contributions are acknowledged on the pages containing them.)  Ultimately, however, I must assume all blame for whatever you find here.
 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

This website was the featured "Lifestyles" community site for December 1999 - January 2000 in AT&T Worldnet's Communities Showcase.  Thanks to those visitors (whoever they are) who enjoyed this site enough to nominate it.  I am grateful and honored — not to mention utterly astonished.
 

SECURITY

YOUR PRIVACY:  There are no features on this website which collect personal data from any visitor without his or her knowledge and consent.  As a general rule, however, users of the Internet should regard information entered in e-mail, guestbooks, message boards, chat rooms, or the like as unsecure and subject to scrutiny by others.

SAFETY:  Although some material on this website might be considered controversial or challenging, there is no material here which might reasonably be construed as harmful to any mature and stable person.

DISCLAIMER:  Under no circumstances does the owner of this website accept responsibility for any use or misuse of material or features contained herein, or for any consequences of such use or misuse.
 

COPYRIGHT

COPYING AND DISTRIBUTING MATERIAL FROM THIS SITE:  All material generated by me is protected by copyright, unless specifically placed in the public domain.  In most cases, visitors are welcome to copy and distribute material from this site with proper accreditation.  If you would like to cite material from this website, click on the copyright notice at the top of any article, or click here, for details.

RESEARCH:  If you use material from this website for research, it's your responsibility to determine its suitability for that purpose.  Although this site features links to other sites containing "primary" (factual) material, in most cases this site should be regarded as a source of "secondary" information, i.e., opinion and commentary.  Also bear in mind that, although the author attempts to maintain a high standard of accuracy on this site, not all items are thoroughly checked, and therefore may contain errors and omissions.