diff --git a/src/koans/01_equalities.clj b/src/koans/01_equalities.clj
index aa628e5..d2b61e9 100644
--- a/src/koans/01_equalities.clj
+++ b/src/koans/01_equalities.clj
@@ -3,37 +3,37 @@
 
 (meditations
   "We shall contemplate truth by testing reality, via equality"
-  (= __ true)
+  (= (= 1 1) true)
 
   "To understand reality, we must compare our expectations against reality"
-  (= __ (+ 1 1))
+  (= 2 (+ 1 1))
 
   "You can test equality of many things"
-  (= (+ 3 4) 7 (+ 2 __))
+  (= (+ 3 4) 7 (+ 2 5))
 
   "Some things may appear different, but be the same"
-  (= __ (= 2 2/1))
+  (= (= 3 3/1) (= 2 2/1))
 
   "You cannot generally float to heavens of integers"
-  (= __ (= 2 2.0))
+  (= (= 1 1.0) (= 2 2.0))
 
   "But a looser equality is also possible"
-  (= __ (== 2.0 2))
+  (= (== 3.0 3) (== 2.0 2))
 
   "Something is not equal to nothing"
-  (= __ (not (= 1 nil)))
+  (= true (not (= 1 nil)))
 
   "Strings, and keywords, and symbols: oh my!"
-  (= __ (= "hello" :hello 'hello))
+  (= (="why" :why 'why) (= "hello" :hello 'hello))
 
   "Make a keyword with your keyboard"
-  (= :hello (keyword __))
+  (= :hello (keyword 'hello))
 
   "Symbolism is all around us"
-  (= 'hello (symbol __))
+  (= 'hello (symbol "hello"))
 
   "What could be equivalent to nothing?"
-  (= __ nil)
+  (= nil nil)
 
   "When things cannot be equal, they must be different"
-  (not= :fill-in-the-blank __))
+  (not= :fill-in-the-blank :hi))
diff --git a/src/koans/02_strings.clj b/src/koans/02_strings.clj
index f2d9623..c24292d 100644
--- a/src/koans/02_strings.clj
+++ b/src/koans/02_strings.clj
@@ -4,31 +4,31 @@
 
 (meditations
   "A string is nothing more than text surrounded by double quotes"
-  (= __ "hello")
+  (= (str 'hello)  "hello")
 
   "But double quotes are just magic on top of something deeper"
-  (= __ (str 'world))
+  (= "world" (str 'world))
 
   "You can do more than create strings, you can put them together"
-  (= "Cool right?" (str __ __))
+  (= "Cool right?" (str "Cool " "right?"))
 
   "You can even get certain characters"
-  (= \C (get "Characters" __))
+  (= \C (get "Characters" 0))
 
   "Or even count the characters"
-  (= __ (count "Hello World"))
+  (= 11 (count "Hello World"))
 
   "But strings and characters are not the same"
-  (= __ (= \c "c"))
+  (= false (= \c "c"))
 
   "What if you only wanted to get part of a string?"
-  (= "World" (subs "Hello World" __ __))
+  (= "World" (subs "Hello World" 6 11))
 
   "How about joining together elements in a list?"
-  (= __ (string/join '(1 2 3)))
+  (= "123" (string/join '(1 2 3)))
 
   "What if you wanted to separate them out?"
-  (= "1, 2, 3" (string/join __ '(1 2 3)))
+  (= "1, 2, 3" (string/join ", " '(1 2 3)))
 
   "Maybe you want to separate out all your lines"
   (= [__ __ __] (string/split-lines "1\n2\n3"))