Friday November  9, 2013  Arika Okrent, In the Land of Invented Language.  Spiegel & Grau, 2009.  Begins chronologically with Hildegarde of Bingen's Lingua Ignota (first invented language of which there's written evidence.)  More about people who invent languages, and those who adopt them, than about the languages themselves.  Recommended.

****"A few days ago they tore down a house at the other end of the block.  I pass the site fairly often on the way to other places, and so far it doesn't look much different from any other torn-down house.

"But you never know.  Since the last time I looked the cops may have planted the lot with poison ivy to keep time-traveling burglars from camping there and going back in time to when there was a house there that their campsite would have been inside of.  That's not a common M.O. for burglars, but that may be because the cops are diligent about planting poison ivy where houses have been torn down.

"You may doubt me because you've never seen cops planting poison ivy at the sites of torn-down houses.  That's because they're careful not to stir up too much publicity lest they start a panic about time-traveling criminals and government agencies abusing time travel to fight them.  Likewise, if you go to the police station and ask them if they plant poison ivy on the sites of torn-down houses they'll look at you funny and say No.

"If the police do tell you they don't plant poison ivy on the sites of torn-down houses it's best to at least pretend to believe them.  This is not the kind of thing you want to get into arguments with the cops about."
Tom Digby, SILICON SOAPWARE #232
http://www.well.com/~bubbles/
http://www.plergb.com/Mail_Lists/Silicon_Soapware_Zine-Pages.html

Sunday November 10, 2013  Wax hair removal isn't just for women.  An ad offers men "Free Eyebrow, Ear or Nose to spruce you up."  Women can get "Free Bikini Line, Eyebrow or Underarm....Upgrade to a cheeky Brazilian for $21.00."

***Thought experiment:  To qualify as a voter, one must serve one year as a civilian government employee.  In theory, this means voters have some idea of how government actually works.

I realized that this solves a problem with my current story.