Earlier this week, BratzBasher walked through the front door after school twenty minutes later than usual. Before I could get my hug, she dragged me into the front room to look out the window.
Mom: What am I looking at?
BratzBasher: It’s right there. Oh no! It’s ear fell off!
Mom: Where?
BB: Wait. No, it didn’t. It’s right there.
Mom: Where? Where am I supposed to be looking?
BB: It’s right at the bottom of the tree.
Mom: Which one? Oh. Oh! How cute! I’m taking pictures.
She made me my very own snow bunny with leaf ears, pebble eyes, and a sweet gum ball tail (or, as we call it, a poinky ball). It’s almost melted away now, but I have pictures!
Anyway…it’s been almost a month since the last (first, actually) Question of the Day. Maybe I should start calling it Question of the Month. Today’s question — or tomorrow’s if you’re reading this at a reasonable hour of the day — was inspired by an interesting tidbit I learned at JET today. The people of Tajikistan are very dedicated to preserving their history and culture. One historian has been elevated to the status of having his face featured on one denomination of the country’s currency. Other famous Tajiks who share this honor include literary figures and…oh, darn — I forget what else. The point is, there are no politicians on the money. I said to BratzBasher, “That would be like England putting Shakespeare on their pound notes instead of the Queen.” We tried to think of who might be chosen to appear on U. S. currency if we did it that way here. The first person that came to mind was Mark Twain.
Excluding politicians, whom do you think we should put on our money?
Bored Bunny 
January 14th, 2010 at 10:11 am
We already put a lot of non-politicians on our stamps. I guess the idea that they are trying to teach us is that celebrities change every few years, and the Elvis that used to get your bills in on time just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore. Politicians are eternal, even if they don’t go as far as they used to.
The guvvmint would use the whole idea on non-politicians on money for their own evil plans. I’d bet the first batch would include Rachel Carson and every other nut environmentalist you could think up. We’ve had Lewis & Clark on coins lately for the 200th anniversary of their expedition. States have included people like Helen Keller on quarters. Twain and Poe would be spectacularly good ideas, though. Military greats like Lafayette or MacArthur would be good, but they’d be hotly contested. (“We shouldn’t be glamorizing war! These were ruthless killers! Give peace a chance!”) Scientists would be a good choice, but beyond Edison or Carver, there aren’t many safe bets.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
True, but the question isn’t whom you think The Man would put on the money; rather, it’s whom you would like to put on the money.
January 14th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I was going to suggest scientists, but the only ones I could think of offhand were George Washington Carver and Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer!
We could also use musicians/composers, like George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington. Not Elvis, though, unless it was Fat Elvis. But you know who would be perfect? Johnny Cash. Get it??? CASH???
Hahahahahahahaha!
Yeah, that’s all I got.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Cash. That’s awesome.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
I can never think of good responses to the QofD. How about some muppets? I would love to spend bills with Kermit or Big Bird or The Count on it.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Forget Sesame Street. (Except maybe Grover. I like Grover. And it would be fun to buy a package of cookies with a Cookie Monster bill.) I wanna see Sam the American Eagle. That would be fun. Fozzy is good, too. (That is how his name is spelled, isn’t it?)
That reminds me of those dollar bills you can buy for your kids on Easter that have the Easter Bunny on them. You can’t spend those, can you? I’ve certainly never tried.
I’d put Mr. Rogers on a bill, too.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:33 am
You can spend those bills. They are legal US currency, but they have an Easter Bunny sticker over the face of the guy on the bill. They generally charge a premium for said sticker, under the guise of making a donation to charity.
Mr. Rogers would be great on a bill. Big Bird too.