The original:

It was nice to come up here to the wilderness just to take a breath. No one ever made their way up here, and when they did, they were always gone once the spectacular sunrise was over. No, these summer midafternoons were mine, all mine. I could relax, listen to the creek and the wildlife that surrounded me. If I closed my eyes, I could hear the whispers of the cattails gossiping or the creak of the trees as they discussed the virtues and drawbacks of different philosophical ideals. By the time the pine trees brought up Descartes, I was fully invested. This was my place, my home, the place I could go to get away from my humanity, where I could feel more connected to the mama moose and her two babies that splashed and played in the creek than my superior officers and their regimented structure. I could just breathe.

Using only the 1000 most common words in the English language:

It was nice to come up here to the not city just to take a breath. No one ever made their way up here, and when they did, they were always gone once the good-looking sun-come-up was over. No, these summer afternoons were mine, all mine. I could relax, listen to the water and the animals that surrounded me. If I closed my eyes, I could hear the whispers of the short not-animal living things talking or the sound of the trees as they talked about the good and bad of different ways of thinking. By the time the green-in-cold trees brought up one guy, I was all the way listening. This was my place, my home, the place I could go to get away from me being a human, where I could feel more together with the mother death-horse-with-head-fighting-sticks and her two babies that played in the water than the people who tell me what to do and what they wanted me to do. I could just breathe.

This (written) assignment entailed writing a story, on anything you wanted, writing in your normal writing style, and then rewriting it using “The Up-Goer Five Text Editor“, a software that you can type into that lets you know when you use any word that isn’t top 10 hundred most used. This was really fun because it allowed me to be creative with no parameters, and then challenged me to be even more creative! Following is the first draft of my story, with whatever words I wanted to use included!

The princess lived in a beautiful, big castle full of servants and food and all the activities she could possibly want, yet she was still unhappy. Materially, she was completely provided for, they made sure of that. However, they could not risk her knowing any of her kind, lest she realize how poorly they treat her and then try to escape. However, isolating the princess only served to strengthen her resolve to get off of the spaceship. When she turned 18, she was finally permitted to know why they needed her, and why she was living, alone, in this castle for her entire life. The answer was shocking. A mass catastrophe, they said, unavoidable, had hit the earth. And there were only 30 humans left in the entire universe. It would be enough to rebuild the population with limited biological damage (meaning: inbreeding would not be an issue), but only if each person made as many biologically different children as possible. Fortunately for the princess, the aliens had an abundance of high-tech machinery that could be used to speed up the birthing process, so it was much shorter than nine months and much less painful. The princess, a bisexual lady, was really hoping everyone else was kind and nice and attractive, because if there were only 29 other human beings, she wanted to like them. She asked the aliens when she would get to bond with the other humans, but was merely brushed off. “When you and all of them are all healthy, then we’ll have a mixer.” This went on for weeks, until the princess was certain that everyone else was either healthy or dead. So she asked again. And this time, she was introduced to another person. A man named John who had also been inconveniencing the aliens. And although it sounds like a match made in heaven, John was sent to the brig for his loud and quite rude comments on any and everybody who walked into his castle space. So the princess was, essentially, punished for her curiosity. She sat through her time with John and then promised to stop asking questions, although she would have said anything to get out of that cell with him. One day, the princess snapped. She was sick and tired of being alone in her cell and talked down to. So she high-jacked an escape pod off of the ship and flew away. From the escape pod, she could see the deforestation brown covering the planet, the deep blue of the melting polar ice caps, and the cement grey of what should have been ruins of skyscrapers, but as she got closer and closer to the planet, she saw something even better- neon lights, flickering and enticing patrons to come drink, airplanes flying through the sky, and, best of all, a Starbucks. It was good to be home. She knew those aliens were full of it from the start. What they wanted from her, she will never know, but she was just thrilled to be back on Earth with her loved ones.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Only using the most used 1000 words!

The woman of power lives in a beautiful, big house full of help-people and food and all the fun she could ever want, yet she was still not happy. She was completely taken care of, they made sure of that. However, they had to make sure she did not know any of her kind was still not dead, in case they realize how bad they have it and then try to escape. However, making alone the lady of power only made stronger her want to get off of the up-goer. When she turned 18, she was finally allowed to know why they needed her, and why she was living, alone, in this house for her entire life. The answer was shocking. A big bad happening, they said, could not have been stopped, had hit the big round land ball. And there were only 30 humans left in the entire star and big land ball place. It would be enough to make more humans with only a few bad body side things happening (bad bodies would not be a problem), but only if each person made as many different children with different parents as possible. Good thing for the woman of power, the not-land ball-people had a lot of things that could be used to fast up the baby making steps, so it was much shorter than 9 months and much less pain-causing. The woman of power, a woman who thinks men and woman are beautiful, was really hoping everyone else was kind and nice and pretty, because if there were only 29 other humans, she wanted to like them. She asked the not-land ball-people when she would get to meet with the other humans, but was brushed off. “When you and all of them are all not dying, then we’ll have a party.” This went on for weeks, until the woman of power was sure that everyone else was either not dying or dead. So she asked again. And this time, she met another person. A man who had also been bothering the not-land ball-people. And although it sounds like a match made in the place where God lives, he was sent to a space for bad people for his loud and mean comments on any and all who walked into his space. She sat through her time with him and then promised the not-land ball-people to stop asking questions, although she would have said anything to get out of that cell with him. One day, the woman of power snapped. She was sick and tired of being alone in her cell and talked down to. So she took an escape-goer off of the big goer and flew away. From the escape goer, she could see the no-trees brown covering the land ball, the deep blue of the going-away ice blocks, and the sad grey of what should have been broken tall work houses, but as she got closer and closer to the land ball, she saw something even better- bright lights, lighting and trying to get people to come drink, big sky cars flying through the sky, and, best of all, a coffee store. It was good to be home. She knew those not-land ball-people were full of it from the start. What they wanted from her, she will never know, but she was just excited to be back on the land ball with her loved ones.

This actually wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be, the editor makes it really easy to tell which words are unacceptable, and then its just a matter of what word (or words) I should use to replace it. I had a really good time with this actually, because I do tend to speak in a somewhat unconventional manner, using odd words and language, so being able fully commit to talking funny was quite fun. I started out by writing my story in the editor, completely ignoring all the red lines and messages of disallowed words. I actually ended up writing so much that I got an error message! I ignored that too though, because the squiggly red lines were still popping up. After my story was finished, I started from the beginning and edited out anything with a red squiggly line, finding an appropriate replacement word or phrase to put in its place. Once I was red line-less, I copy-pasted the entire thing into this blog post and went to sleep! The next morning, I woke up and rechecked the story for unusable words, copy-pasting in smaller chunks so as to avoid the error message, and all was well!

There is very limited reasoning as to why I chose aliens; I was going to a traditional princess story, but two sentences in decided to make a sort of Rapunzel with a twist (the twist being ALIENS!). The space and alien theme does sort of tie into the Space Race, which was a part of the Cold War, which was coming to a slow end in the 80s, but that’s a little bit of a stretch. My other 2 assignments for this week are sufficiently 80s (although I suppose I’m not the one who gets to decide that), so I just let myself have fun. I did have a lot of fun giving the princess and escape route, and even more fun nixing the idea of her being saved/having a male suitor to help her- my active revolt against that trope in the 80s (see: Night of the Comet). All in all, a really fun assignment, and will be playing with this editing thing in my free time.

10/10 recommend! -liz

I found this assignment to be the most stressful thus far. In the beginning, I thought that this would be a breeze, but soon found out I was wrong. I hope that I explained what I could about the eighties, since I guess I have a more developed vocabulary than I originally thought.

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“Pick a topic that you can write about. It can be anything: a short bio, a description of a job you do, a short story about something that happened to you. Then go to http://splasho.com/upgoer5/ and use the editor to write/re-write your text only using the top most common 1000 words. The editor will tell you when you violate the rules. “

For this assignment I had to use a website tthat would only let me write a short blurb using the 1000 most common english words. It was HARD! I wanted to write it in as a girl in the 80’s getting ready for prom. I soon realized it wasn’t going to let me use names. So, when I wanted to say that “I stared at my Ralph Macchio poster in bed” not only could I not use “Ralph Macchio” but I realized I couldn’t use “poster” either. This was surprising because poster seems like a common word but I guess it’s not common enough!

It was also hard because I wanted to talk about pink braces and perms and glittery makeup, all of which were out of the question. I couldn’t mention a polaroid camera or a green bean casserole. My story immediately became very uninteresting!

Without the details I wanted to include, it also took the context of when it was written or what year I was writing about out of it. I couldn’t even use the word Prom!

I have wanted a ton of movies from the 80’s or that have an 80’s feeling to it where a girl is getting ready for prom. It always seemed so fun to me and it seemed so glorious in the movie. I waned to write in away that would portray that same glory and nerves and excitement about getting ready for a school dance that I think is not seen anymore today.

For my tools I only used my laptop and the website provided in the assignment description above. Below is my very short uninteresting blurb using only the 1000 most common words:

I got off the house phone with her at 4 in the afternoon and laid on my bed staring up. I had no idea what I was going to do for my hair or my make up and I was supposed to be ready by 8. My date would be here then and I knew my parents wanted to get the pictures which would take up so much time (and probably make us late to the dance). Mom wanted my date to come over for dinner before he came to pick me up but I was so nervous I didn’t even want to eat. I got up and turned on some music and laid out my dress. I was going to have a fun night and I just needed to calm down. What was the worst that could happen at the dance anyway?

I picked this activity because I was curious as to what words that I use that I feel are common but aren’t. I wrote about this story because it related to the theme during this semester and because I have so many memories of listening to 80s music with my dad.

I tried thinking of an artist or band that I listened to growing up. Though I didn’t remember much of the music my dad played, I remembered that my dad loves Led Zeppelin. Before I started to write, I called my dad to ask him what was his favorite song was, and wrote my essay from there. After that, I used the editor to check every paragraph and re-write it. It was actually not easy whatsoever. I am not good at English as it is, so as I tried fixing everything, I was struggling a little. I did end up figuring it out over a period of like 15 minutes through my best friend Google. I couldn’t figure out how to replace the numbers like 80’s or 90’s, and I couldn’t change the names like Led Zeppelin and Jesus.

I love writing about moments in my life, so if I ever forget about them, I could always revisit them. So this isn’t really beneficial to society or anyone with a social media in anyway, shape, or form- unless they’d like to know a little bit about my dad’s favorite songs by Led Zeppelin. This is mostly for me to look back at in the future, whenever I do.

Description of Activity: “Pick a topic that you can write about. It can be anythign: a short bio, a description of a job you do, a short story about something that happened to you. Then go to http://splasho.com/upgoer5/ and use the editor to write/re-write your text only using the top most common 1000 words. The editor will tell you when you violate the rules. The challenge (and editor) are based upon this xkcd comic. ”

First Version:

My dad’s teen years were the 80’s, and a lot of music he listens to are between the 60’s-90’s. He’s very picky with his music, but never failed to supply amazing music to jam out to or have a deep conversation about the meaning of the bands’ and/or artists’ music. I practically grew up on the greatest music and singers of those times. One band I grew up listening to was, of course, Led Zeppelin. He is one of my dad’s favorite singers till today.

I asked him recently what was his favorite song by Led Zeppelin, and my dad immediately lit up. One of the few things you could get my dad rolling through a conversation about was his music. He can talk hours and hours about them. Obviously, when I asked for just one, he couldn’t do it. He had to give me at least 3 songs by Led Zeppelin that he just absolutely loved.

The first song he gave me was The Rain Song, which was recorded and released early 70’s, when my dad was at the end of his elementary years. My dad explained to me that the song was about emotions he was feeling and how powerful they were while relating them to nature. Next, it was Thank you, which was released end of the 60’s. He said that song was “nice and sweet,” and a song that always just struck with him. Lastly, he told me about a song called In my Time of Dying, which was released 1975. This song was about Jesus’ death. Though my father is Islamic, and in the culture it is believed Jesus never actually died, my dad just was in awe with this song.

Those were just 3 of the tons of songs my father just absolutely loves. Music has always been a part of my life growing up, specifically music from the 60’s-90’s. I’ve always grown up having deep conversations with my dad about music and the time before EDC and auto-tune, and when music had a bigger depth to the meaning behind the lyrics. Those times were my favorite times ever.

Revised Version:

My dad’s young years were the 80’s, and a lot of music he listens to are between the 60’s-90’s. He’s very hard with his music, but always offered amazing music to listen to or have a deep conversation about the meaning of the bands’ music. I practically grew up on the greatest music of those times. One band I grew up listening to was, of course, Led Zeppelin. He is one of my dad’s favorites until today.

I asked him about a week ago what was his favorite song by Led Zeppelin, and my dad immediately lit up. One of the few things you could get my dad rolling through a conversation about was his music. He can talk hours and hours about them. Obviously, when I asked for just one, he couldn’t do it. He had to give me at least 3 songs by Led Zeppelin that he just loved so much.

The first song he gave me was The Rain Song, which came out in the early 70’s, when my dad was around 10 years. My dad explained to me that the song was about a feeling he had and how strong it was while also making it about the world. Next, it was Thank you, which came out at the end of the 60’s. He said that song was “nice and sweet,” and a song that always just stayed with him. Finally, he told me about a song called In my Time of Dying, which was came out 1975. This song was about Jesus’ death. My dad just was in amaze with this song.

Those were just 3 of the lots of songs my father loves like crazy. Music has always been a part of my life growing up, especially music from the 60’s-90’s. I’ve always grown up having deep conversations with my dad about music and the time before the music of this time, and when music had a deep meaning behind the just the words. Those times were my favorite times ever.

Hello Everyone.

This past week was crazy! My dad was walking to the train and got hit by a car. The guy in the car did not stop and kept driving away. My dad called me and I picked him up and went to the hospital. He was checked over and everything was good. We called the police and they found the guy who hit my dad. I am sad that the guy would do this to my dad. I am happy that he is well.

To play the team game from the well-known boy wonder books is different from what most people think. You run with sticks to pretend to fly. You throw a ball around and try to make it in the round point places. I am the round point place guard player. There are people who are trying to stop you by hitting you with a different ball at the same time. A person in shorts runs around and another person is supposed to catch them. A whole game lasts about half an hour, if that. You can hit other people and bring them down, as long as you don’t hurt them too bad. It’s really fun and hard and lots of friends play all together. I hurt my foot – leg meet up place so it’s harder for me to do as much as I want but I still try to play.

Made using only the top 1000 most common words.

Each summer, my mom parents and as many children, children children, and children of their children of their children of theirs as can make it, go to a house on the Outer water edge. There we usually go to the water edge by day and play card games into the night. On some days we may go into town to go shopping, get ice, climb the light house, or get food for dinner. On one day we go and play tiny followed by going out for lunch. Most people who come live in great state such as myself and my great parents. We do have a family in the hot state that usually send the great great kids up only along their great mother, my Aunt. I hope we can enjoy it for many more years, but great mom and great dad are not getting any younger.