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.