h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You may or may not have seen or taken part in Create, it's a little thing we've got going here to help people's creative juices get flowing.

Now, I've not taken part in it before I have to admit. Not that I didn't want to, but just because I've been a bit busy elsewhere doing "stuff". Yes, the inevitable "stuff".

However, to put this oversight right, I've had a go and created a Create challenge: http://www.h2g2.com/entry/A87797551

One Page Poetry.

It's a lot simpler that most things I think up, and it wasn't thought up while I slept (I have most of my best ideas when I'm asleep (don't ask)) or while I was in the "smallest room", this idea I came up with in the kitchen.

Like most middle class fridges, our has a set (three really) or magnetic poetry. And it's usually got lots of random stuff on it, I tend to try and make not poetry, but very short stories. Just to get my brain to start thinking in the mornings.
So, being that sort of weirdo I then started to wonder if you could do it in reverse. Could you take text from a story and turn it into a poem? Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, it sort of is and isn't. Especially if you limit yourself to one page.
One page sounds easy enough, in fact given the amount of words you can fit on one page it sounds really easy. Until you then sit down and start trying it. You'll usually get lots of "the" and "and" and other small words, but you'll struggle to get some of the longer ones that you'd normally use.

What this challenge does, is it makes you stop just using whatever words you'd normally use, and start thinking more about what you've been given.

Plus it's kinda fun. Especially when you come up with the random sort of drivel that I do.

I must try this out. I'll report back with a poem of sorts.

I may be some time.

That link says "unable to find page"

If you're in Ripley, just copy the Anumber.

If you put just the A number into a post, it works fine for all skins. In Pliny, remember not to put the A number at the start of a line, for some reason this prevents it becoming a link to the Entry.

Here is the link: A87797551

I've printed out the page, I'm going to cut them all up and have a go.


My fridge magnets were free with a copy of Classic Rock last year and have words from classic rock songs on them, so we have sentences like, 'don't light the muffin' and 'I aint welcome in neverland'

I used to misread 'Buss- und Bettag' (Day of Repentance and Prayer) as 'Buss- und Betttag' (Day of Repentance and Bed). Rather than praying, I slept in.

Apologies. Misclicked. That post was supposed to go in the German language discussion, not the Alice in Wonderland poetry.

Carry on.

Yes, yes! Wear the lion tamer's outfit!

Whoops, that was intended for Dmitri's journal.

This is now my second day of trying to come up with something for the challenge. I didn't manage to get a single line.