Aww, that's sweet! (the doll comment). I expect you'll have lots of friends, no worries! I felt weird when I first came here, b/c the setup was the same, but very different at the same time. Different forums and subforums, different color scheme, a little darker, etc etc etc
But, I got comfortable. Of course, it was easier then, b/c Lita was dishing out drinks all times of the day in the Tiki bar. She's a ray of sunshine, as you know.
The hammers and bars and stuff comes from your group affiliations. Mine is Liberal, so I get donkeys. Hey, I wonder why you don't have any! I thought 'unaffiliated' got scales or something. Anyway, if you go to your User CP, then choose 'Group Memberships', you can click on Conservative or what have you, and get some icons. Maybe you have to have 50 posts before the icons show up? Not sure. Check here, in the 'Ranks' and 'Titles' headings: Debate Politics Forums - FAQ