diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index b889afd..c6df85e 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 (defproject NoteHub "0.1.0-SNAPSHOT"
             :description "A free and anonymous hosting for markdown pages."
             :dependencies [[org.clojure/clojure "1.3.0"]
-                           [org.clojure/clojure-contrib "1.2.0"]
                            [hiccup "1.0.0"]
                            [ring/ring-core "1.1.0"]
                            [cssgen "0.2.6"]
diff --git a/src/NoteHub/settings.clj b/src/NoteHub/settings.clj
index 512fa23..b394ba1 100644
--- a/src/NoteHub/settings.clj
+++ b/src/NoteHub/settings.clj
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 (ns NoteHub.settings
-  (:require [clojure.contrib.string :as ccs])
   (:refer-clojure :exclude [replace reverse])
   (:use [clojure.string]))
 
@@ -8,7 +7,7 @@
 (defn- get-pairs-map [file]
   (let [file-content (slurp file)
         pairs (map #(map trim (split % #"=" 2)) 
-                   (remove ccs/blank? (ccs/split-lines file-content)))]
+                   (remove blank? (split-lines file-content)))]
     (apply hash-map 
            (mapcat #(list (keyword (first %)) (second %)) pairs))))
 
diff --git a/src/NoteHub/storage.clj b/src/NoteHub/storage.clj
index 719cdf8..02f0df0 100644
--- a/src/NoteHub/storage.clj
+++ b/src/NoteHub/storage.clj
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 (ns NoteHub.storage
   (:use [NoteHub.settings]
+        [clojure.string :only (blank?)]
         [noir.util.crypt :only [encrypt]]
         [noir.options :only [dev-mode?]])
-  (:require [clj-redis.client :as redis]
-            [clojure.contrib.string :as ccs]))
+  (:require [clj-redis.client :as redis]))
 
 ; Initialize the data base 
 (def db 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
    (let [key (build-key date title)]
      (do
        (redis/hset db note key text)
-       (when (not (ccs/blank? passwd))
+       (when (not (blank? passwd))
          (redis/hset db password key passwd))))))
 
 (defn get-note
diff --git a/src/NoteHub/views/pages.clj b/src/NoteHub/views/pages.clj
index 9fe5ec3..3d6955c 100644
--- a/src/NoteHub/views/pages.clj
+++ b/src/NoteHub/views/pages.clj
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 (ns NoteHub.views.pages
   (:require [NoteHub.crossover.lib :as lib]
-            [clojure.contrib.string :as ccs]
             [hiccup.util :as util])
   (:use
     [NoteHub.storage]
     [NoteHub.settings]
     [NoteHub.views.common]
-    [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace} :only [split replace lower-case]]
+    [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace}
+      :only [split replace blank? split-lines lower-case]]
     [clojure.core.incubator :only [-?>]]
     [hiccup.form]
     [hiccup.core]
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@
 (defpage [:post "/post-note"] {:keys [draft password session-key session-value]}
          ; first we collect all info needed to evaluate the validity of the note creation request
          (let [valid-session (invalidate-session session-key) ; was the note posted from a newly generated form?
-               valid-draft (not (ccs/blank? draft)) ; has the note a meaningful content?
+               valid-draft (not (blank? draft)) ; has the note a meaningful content?
                ; is the hash code correct?
                valid-hash (try
                             (= (Short/parseShort session-value) 
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
              ; if not, append "-n", where "n" is the next free number
              (let [[year month day] (get-date)
                    untrimmed-line (filter #(or (= \- %) (Character/isLetterOrDigit %)) 
-                                          (-> draft ccs/split-lines first (sreplace " " "-") lower-case))
+                                          (-> draft split-lines first (sreplace " " "-") lower-case))
                    trim (fn [s] (apply str (drop-while #(= \- %) s)))
                    title-uncut (-> untrimmed-line trim reverse trim reverse)
                    max-length (get-setting :max-title-length #(Integer/parseInt %) 80)
diff --git a/test/NoteHub/test/views/pages.clj b/test/NoteHub/test/views/pages.clj
index a3182e7..fbf8b4f 100644
--- a/test/NoteHub/test/views/pages.clj
+++ b/test/NoteHub/test/views/pages.clj
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
   (:require [NoteHub.crossover.lib :as lib])
   (:use [NoteHub.views.pages]
         [noir.util.test]
-        [clojure.contrib.string :only [substring?]]
         [NoteHub.views.common :only [url]]
         [NoteHub.storage]
         [clojure.test]))
 
+(defn substring? [a b]
+  (not (= nil 
+          (re-matches (re-pattern (str "(?s).*" a ".*")) b))))
 (def date [2012 6 3])
 (def test-title "some-title")
 (def test-note "# This is a test note.\nHello _world_. Motörhead, тест.")