Absence, Tardiness, Lack of Interest... call it what you will

Okay. It's been a long time since I've logged in to mylot and when I left things were getting pretty censored here. I still get replies sent to my email and have a couple friends who I recieve notices from when they post but other than responding to those... I haven't been around much.
I'd like to become active in discussions again but I'm not even sure 'what is permitted' anymore. Don't we have to ask a question to start a discussion now? I mean I could be on "Yahoo!Answers" for a question & answer forum because they have a cool system just for that and I'm already a member there. Besides, I liked the realness of being able to come here and share or vent and get feedback from people who agree and disagree with something I'm dealing with. I love to learn about people, their actions, interactions.... get and give advice and honestly, that's why I joined the Lot! If I'm right, we can't share recipes, jokes, games or especially other 'competitive' websites either now???
Like I said, it's been a while so I have no clue what's legit here. Please fill me in on the DO's and more so the DON'Ts of myLot?????? If it's extremely censored then I will just continue on as I have been the last year, checking in with my friends and responses. I have made one really great life-time friend (GG) here and learned much from people across the world so it has been fun and beneficial either way!

Thanks, in advance, for your help.