Our new Name the Celebrity contest starts today!

In this post: Sam in Seattle, favorite musicals, “Moses Supposes,” a mystery celebrity.

I’m having an unexpected solitary weekend. Sam traveled to Seattle this afternoon for a sad, last-minute trip to visit his older sister Marian, who’s hospitalized and seriously ill. On Thursday she asked all of her siblings to come as soon as possible so they can be together this weekend, at which time Sam wedged himself into seat 5D on U.S. Airways flight 652 and flew to the Pacific Northwest with an umbrella, two sweatshirts and a couple of granola bars.

To amuse myself for the remainer of the weekend I’ve got a loaf of low-carb bread in the bread machine and a couple of juicy musicals on the DVR, namely My Fair Lady (1964) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952), two personal favorites that Sam flatly refuses to watch because they don’t include Humphrey Bogart, giant lizards threatening Tokyo or gladiators.

For the record, I enjoy Bogey and Godzilla as much as the next girl but gladiators of any ilk are completely out of the question, including Kirk Douglas as Spartacus (pictured above), Victor Mature and Russell Crowe. I guess I just don’t understand what’s entertaining about chains, lions and blood when you can watch Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor tap dance instead. Are these guys adorable, or what?

It occurs to me that we haven’t had a Howdygram contest for an awfully long time so this might be an excellent opportunity to get y’all excited about winning a few valuable prizes. Therefore ... get ready to NAME THE CELEBRITY! The rules are as basic as it gets: 1) take a guess; 2) send us an email; and 3) the first correct entry WINS.

Here’s our first mystery celebrity. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, September 25, and you can use the link beneath the picture to enter. Thank you and good luck!

And now it’s time to inject insulin, swallow a fistful of pills and scrounge around for snacks. At the moment I’m leaning towards chocolate soy milk and a bowl of green olives. I’ll be glad to save you some if you’re interested, but act fast because supplies are limited.