VTK's White Whale: Put Herman Melville's House On A US Quarter

Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke- look you, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!

Forget the gold ounce, boys and girls. I've seen the White Whale of the Blogosphere. And it's reward will take the form of a silvery fifth of an ounce, no less valuable to ye sailors of the internet. How so? It is no mere American 25 cent piece; it is a quarter dollar of legal tender that can finally pay proper homage to the author of Moby Dick and the house in which he penned the whale tale - the Arrowhead estate in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Pay homage to the house and pay dividends for your VTK captain.

You may know that I'm from Pittsfield. Some have suggested I'm obsessed with my hometown. What you may not know is that one of my more impressive skills is my ability to get from any statement to a Herman Melville reference in three sentences. Go ahead, try me. As you can imagine, having Arrowhead on the tail side of a US quarter would be invaluable to a word hunter like myself - infinitely more valuable than its stated worth of 25 cents. Whosoever of ye joins with me to flip the white head of the American quarter to put Arrowhead on its tail, he or she shall have that silvery fifth of an ounce, my boys and girls. Doubt me not - I'd strike the sun if it insulted me.

Here's the deal from the mass.gov website: In a successor to the 50 States Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint, in a nationwide program, has asked Governor Patrick to select one preferred and three alternate Massachusetts national sites to be featured on the reverse of a quarter. Beginning in 2010, the Mint will release five new quarter designs annually based on the order in which the selected sites gained federal designation. Governor Patrick is calling on the people of Massachusetts to help with this decision. It's right there in black and white, VTKids. The white head of Washington beckons you to determine the destiny of his tail. Go to the site to vote for "Herman Melville House, Pittsfield", which is under Berkshire County. You can vote as many times as you want. It's going to take more than one harpoon to fell this White Whale.

And if Deval Patrick denies the democratic voice of VTKountry, which will surely be heard in this vote, if he doesn't put Arrowhead on a US quarter, well, God help him. I'll follow him around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give him up.