Before the invention of the car, jaywalking wasn’t a recognized concept. Want to get across the street? Then just walk across the street—nobody’s going to stop you. But the rise of the automobile posed a new problem for people of the early 20th century. While the median state-designated speed limit for American cities was just 10 miles per hour in 1906, the pace of American streets soon increased enough that people who wanted to cross them were suddenly putting themselves in harm’s way. So cities across the U.S. started to regulate where and when pedestrians could cross. You can see the faint pedestrian crosswalk lines painted on the street in the scene below from Detroit circa 1917.
I know what you’re thinking. This chatroom is dumb. Why would anyone reveal the thing they’re trying to hide? First of all, you’re so afraid of it precisely because you know you can’t hide it. Second of all, if you just reveal it here it’ll be out there on your terms and you can stop worrying about it. This is a cleansing process. And third of all, it probably doesn’t matter
There’s something on the internet that you desperately want to keep everyone from seeing. Something you’re deeply embarrassed of. That would show all your friends how you’re not actually as smart and fashionable and ironically self-aware as you pretend to be. And you really ought to get over it. More »
Shame is a dark, brooding tale of one man’s crippling addiction to sex and all things sex-related. Despite critcal acclaim, you might not have gotten a chance to see it, mainly because it’s rated NC-17. Yeah, there’s some penis. More »