Say Aaaaaahhhhh...

It even happens in the emergency room. I went to Urgent care for an ongoing cough. The doctor came into the room and proceeded to exam me. As she was about to leave the room, she hesitated a bit, looked at me and said, "do you have a sister?…you look like a friend of mine…BUT really you look like Ellen DeGeneres". She continued to tell me that Ellen is her favorite person 'in the world' and that going to the Ellen Show is on her Bucket list. I told her now that she has seen her look alike she is half way there.

I'm surprised at how often Ellen's fans tell me since they will never see or meet Ellen, they want to have a picture with me instead. Aaaahhhh how nice. I'm happy to oblige because it makes Ellen's fans so happy to have a connection to Ellen, in any way they can - even if it means I am the connection.

Ellen Fever Still Burns in Eugene

Ellen fever is burning up Eugene right now. Several friends and acquaintances have mentioned that they heard Ellen was really in town. Does that mean they saw me, the look alike and therefore that they saw Ellen? I’m not sure and that is a major assumption. But what happened in the grocery store the other day, may confirm that people did see me and really believe Ellen was in town.

I was wheeling my cart to the tofu section, where a young woman was standing in the way and was not moving. I politely said, “excuse me.” She then looked at me and said, “I am sorry I thought you were someone else”. In my mind I chuckled knowing who she thought she saw, so I replied back “yup I know”.

That’s when she freaked out and started hyperventilating…”IT IS YOU…YOU ARE ELLEN, YOU REALLY ARE ELLEN!” She became hysterical and started getting louder and screaming and yelling, “IT IS YOU, THEY SAID YOU WERE IN TOWN!!!”

I kept telling her no, no I am not, I promise I am not her. “YES YOU ARE…DON’T LIE TO ME…OH MY…YOU ARE…ELLEN DEGENERES…”  I kept telling her, “no, no I am not…I just look like her, I get it all the time.”

“NOOOOOOO!  Don’t lie to me you are Ellen…let me see your ring.”

I showed her my ring, which apparently didn’t help because I wear a wedding band on my left ring finger. She then looked down at my shoes and then back up at me. She said, "Are you sure? You have to be, they said you were here!"

At this point I felt really bad for her and thought she might have a heart attack so I said…”See let me show you my driver’s license”. I showed her my Oregon identification and she looked long and hard at it then back at me. “Oh”, she said.

I really felt bad because I could tell she was embarrassed. As I walked away I touched her on the shoulder and said “I do look like her, in fact ‘she’ has even told me I look like her”.

That seemed to help as she slowly walked away shaking her head in disbelief.

Ellen Comes to Eugene...Is She Really Here?

The first story of the New Year is a doozy. The Ellen show came to Eugene, Oregon on Thursday for a special segment – a contest for tickets and a trip to the BCS Championship football game in Glendale, Arizona. This is the biggest Bowl game and the best the Ducks have EVER done. The excitement in Eugene is palpable and extremely contagious. The day started when Ellen Tweeted to her fans to come to the EMU - a gathering place for students at the University of Oregon - wearing their best Fiesta wear.

Kim and I decided to go check it out and of course try to be the big winners. We arrived early so as to get a good spot to hang out and “observe”. Ellen’s production crew was already there setting up cameras, monitors and lights. We knew we were in the right place. One of Ellen’s regular road reporters Jeannie, was on sight to do the satellite correspondence between the U of O segment, and the live feed with the show and of course Ellen herself. Kim was so excited she marched down to the crew and shook Jeannie’s hand and proceeded to explain that Ellen’s doppelganger was here and is a huge Duck fan. One by one the production crew turned to look in my direction and did admit to Kim, I looked like Ellen…that is as far as the production staff would go. BUT even the Ellen crew could not deny the Duck fans from meeting Ellen (or as close as they could get to Ellen in person).

It just took one person to approach me and request a photo and the flood gates were open... I became Ellen. By this time the crowd had grown to over 1,500+ people, some in full costume, most wearing Green or Gold, but all had Duck spirit. Slowly the rumor spread that Ellen was sitting at the top of the arena, and one by one the attention shifted from the stage where the Ellen production crew was set to film, to the “Ellen in the crowd”. Picture after picture and conversation after conversation I posed and conversed for over 5 hours with Ellen fans who found it uncanny that I would actually live in Eugene, be a huge Duck fan and that I was NOT Ellen. The most common statement of the day was…”How can you not be her, you even sound like her and act like her?”

Nic, my new BFF hung out with me the entire time. At first he thought I WAS Ellen, until I gently let him know that I really was not. He couldn’t believe it, but after awhile we had a great time hanging out together and he ended up taking well over 100 pictures of me posing with people. What a sport! He posted a picture on his facebook page and before long his friends were texting and ditching class to come see and meet Ellen too. Soon others around us were doing the same.

 

The photos seemed endless but I was more than happy to do it, because it made so many people giddy to be so close to Ellen, or as close as they could get anyway. I posed with babies and dogs, students and parents, children and grand parents. I was interviewed for a television show…not sure who or what, but they wanted to know all about me and why I looked so much like Ellen.

Upon realizing that I really was not Ellen, people would ask me questions like; Where were you born? Are you married? Who are you married to? What kind of car do you drive? Let us see your ring? Are you with the Ellen show? Where to you live? Will you dance for us? Do you work for Ellen? Do you know Ellen? Are they paying you? You should charge for pictures! Did they plant you up here? Are you really Ellen? Are you a look alike? Do you know you look like Ellen? Does this happen all the time? Are you sick of this yet?

The madness/elation continued until the crowd dispersed and Kim and I went on our way to our house on a hill in Eugene, Oregon.

WHO DAT?!

Nawlings Ya’ll!

Nov. 4-9 we go to New Orleans for the National Association of REALTORS conference.

From the flight there to the flight back and everywhere in between…Ellen became my identity. NOT on purpose or with any intention on my part…but because I am me, which happens to be similar to who Ellen appears to be. Or as I like to look at it, Ellen appears to be similar to me.

What?…are you fooling us? People would ask me…Are you Ellen?

OMG you look like Ellen…you are her right? You dance just like her too…

Excuse me…can I get your autograph?

Oh Looord...I can’t even look at you…you sure you’re not Ellen? Dance for me that will prove it. Dance Ellen…dance… OMG…you are Ellen…it’s those eyes…

Please may I take a picture with you. I love Ellen so much, she is my favorite person in the world. I can’t believe you look so much like her…

You could make a lot of people freak out if you went to LA…

You should get paid…

Hey Ellen…oh my gawd, your not Ellen…I thought you were…a lot of celebrities do come around here so I thought for sure you was her…

Did you know she’s from here? Grew up in the Quarter…

My wife used to work with Ellen, court clerk…she was just as funny back then…wait til I tell my wife I saw you.

My favorite story is Gail, the tour bus driver. She saw me on the corner waiting for her bus and she told all the passengers, oh that looks like Ellen. When we loaded the bus she said I am sure you hear this all the time but you look like Ellen. I said yes a matter of fact I do. So we continue to the next stop where she then stood to address the group and as I listened she looked at me and said …I can’t even look at you…are you sure your not Ellen? Oh I am sure Gail. She said stop looking at me you are freaking me out. It’s the eyes. As we continued the tour she kept slipping in comments about how she can’t wait to tell everyone that Ellen is on her bus. We get to our final stop, the swamp for a boat tour, and of course Gail had to tell everyone that Ellen is coming. We get to the office and I, rather Ellen became the topic of discussion.

Gail was so excited to have Ellen on her bus.

When the swamp tour was over and it was time to drive back to town, Gail pulls up in her bus with another load of passengers to start their tour. As she pulls the bus past me she points to me and I can read her lips…see there she is  - Ellen! I waved to them as they went by.

On our drive back, Gail addressed me as Ellen…where’s your stop Ellen? Did you have a good time Ellen? Ellen are you back there? etc. Finally as we got off the bus, she said well, if you dance then I will really now you are Ellen. I laughed, and as I got off the bus I began to dance my way out and in front of the bus…” See…I knew it…you are Ellen” She drove off with a smile!!

Oh My...Did You Know You Look Like Ellen DeGenerate?

As we were flying to Alabama for a Porsche Sport Driving camp a grumpy Flight attendant kept walking up and down the isle and gave me what I thought was a glare. Finally as the flight was descending she comes over and says, "I am sure people tell you all the time that you look like Ellen DeGeneres". She finally had a cheery smile on her face as I answered, "Yes people do tell me all the time". She walked away with an even bigger smile on her face and says…”I thought so”.

At the end of a long day at the Porsche Sport Driving School, a group of us were walking back to our rooms across a large patio area. On the other side of the patio was a large party of people gathering. As I looked over at the group, several people started to wave frantically in our direction. I nodded my head towards them and smiled. At the same time our new friends asked if we know them. I said “No, I think they think, I look like Ellen”. “Ohh yeah…” they say…”of course you do…we can totally see that.” The rest of the evening they called me Ellen.

Still in Alabama, we go into a restaurant. The hostess - an overly friendly Southern Gal, says in her best Southern accent… “Oh my word…did you know you look just like Ellen DeGenerate?” As I told her that yes a lot of people tell me that I look like Ellen and in fact Ellen herself has even told me I look like her, she says back…”Yes ma’am…I  apologize for staring but I just couldn’t help myself”

As we were seated looking over the menu I could hear the same voice in the kitchen telling all the staff how much I look like Ellen, and then I overheard another voice respond to her…”I thought the same thing”.

My Experience with Porsche

Porsche Sport Driving School - USA

THETVOBSERVER!: TheTVObserver: Ellen DeGeneres

THETVOBSERVER!: TheTVObserver: Ellen DeGeneres