As today is Dr. Seuss' birthday, we thought you all might enjoy a little contest. But first, a little background.

Dr. Seuss wrote a large number of children's books, including some 44 he illustrated himself. In May 1954, his publisher challenged him to write a book containing 250 words from a list of 400, in an effort to raise children literacy. The Cat in the Hat was written 9 months later, containing only 220 of the words given to him.

It is rumored that later, in 1960, Bennett Cerf made a bet with Dr. Seuss that he could not write a book containing only 50 different words. The result was supposedly Green Eggs and Ham. (all information taken from Wikipedia)

So, in that vein, we issue you a challenge. Should you complete it within the time limit, we will award you 100 points towards the Blogging for Progress Scholarship contest on the main site. Entries are due by midnight PDT on March 22, 2008.

Your challenge is: Write a short story or poem containing only 50 different words.

They can be any words you choose, and you can repeat the words as many times as you wish. You must follow the rules of the site (though we'll be a little more lenient on the requirement that the post be progressive). You are free to write more than one story/poem for the challenge, but you will only be given points for one.

Also, if you attempt to write a story, and it takes off somewhere else, don't hesitate to submit it here. Just because it doesn't meet the rules of the contest doesn't mean you can't post it.

If you have any further questions, feel free to comment here, and we'll answer your questions for you.