Elizabeth’s Journal

Digital Camera Use; Rock Paper Scissors; 100 Years Ago Today

I read about a great site that has lots of information and advice on taking pictures that you wish to save with a digital camera. The information is presented with extreme clarity (even I understood it!)—definitely worth a look for anyone who uses a digital camera.

Much to my overwhelming astonishment, I learned in the Sunday paper that there is a world championship for Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS). There is even a web site for those feeling the need to join the World RPS Society. The winner of last year’s world championship (the first ever) won $1,200 Canadian dollars and a gold medal. He must have committed to memory the standards for each hand signal, such as “Rock is represented by a closed fist with the thumb resting at least at the same height as the topmost finger on the hand. The thumb must not be concealed by the fingers.” I don’t remember my parents being that strict when they were trying to see who had to get out of bed to make the coffee in the morning! I did find it interesting to see that the game appears to have originated in Asia; a Japanese dictionary says it arrived in Japan in the early 1640s, and that the Japanese version was influenced by the “sansukumi way of thinking”, which refers to an ancient mythology in which the snake fears the slug, the slug fears the frog, and the frog fears the snake.

Finally, for those of us who think we are so advanced here at the dawn of a new century. It never hurts to have a little perspective—100 years ago at start of the 20th century, folks then thought they were just as advanced, compared to what had come before as we did. And yet . . .
—average US life expectancy was 47 years
—women washed their hair about once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo
—there were only 144 miles of paved roads in the US
—more than 95% of all births took place at home
—90% of US physicians had no college education and were instead trained at “medical schools”, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as “substandard”
—crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea had not yet been invented
—only 6% of all Americans had achieved a high school diploma
—heroin was available over the counter at drugstores, and according to one pharmacist, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”
As the source for this compilation of facts said, just imagine what they’ll be saying about us in another 100 years.