Patrick Dempsey is actually more awesome than I thought he would be!
I made it back!
I think that was quite possibly one of the best weekends I've ever had in recent memory. Flying out to meet people you've only spoken to online before can be quite daunting. I honestly almost didn't go because I was pretty nervous about it. But, apparently, the ladies I have spent so much time online with the past four years or so are just as cool, if not more so, in person, as they are online. I had a lovely time. Maine in October is a very picturesque state. The weather for the Dempsey Challenge was incredible. Crisp, cool, and clear for both days, and the fall foliage made everything very colorful (I would LOVE to see it when the foliage is at its peak). Apologies for the picture quality; I only had my iPhone.
I did the 10k walk/run, which was a phenomenal experience. Walking astride with thousands of other people who had survived, or known someone with cancer, or simply supported the idea of giving support to those struggling with cancer, was something I will never forget. Really, cancer touches all of us, and it was very moving to be in such a large crowd gathered for such a good cause.
Enough of that, though. I know why you're all really reading this blog entry! You want the skinny on Patrick Dempsey, right? Well, here it is.
Patrick Dempsey is quite possibly one of the funniest, most charming individuals I've ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. He pretty much lights up the space he's in with his energy and enthusiasm. I didn't get to meet him personally, but I can't count on one hand the number of times I was within a few feet (we're talking less than five) away, watching him interact with other fans, or MCing various events. He was mobbed pretty much everywhere he went, though, which limited my opportunities to get a word in and ask for a photo. I was too shy to push in for a photo with such a noisy crowd always around him, but I was close enough often enough that I probably could have gotten one if I'd been diligent about it.
He was adorable because, really? Honestly? The man can't say no. He literally cannot do it. Not even a little bit. He can't even waffle. If you ask him for a picture or an autograph, he WILL stop and take the time. He was on a very tight schedule, and his security literally had to drag him off by his arm more than once.
The first time I saw him was the opening ceremony for the 5/10k run/walk. I was about 4 feet back from the barrier at the center of the stage, so he was pretty much right in front of me. I felt a little bad for him because he sounded very congested and hoarse, and he looked pretty pale. In interviews later that day, he was sniffly, too. It was obvious he either was sick or hadn't gotten much sleep, but he made a fantastic opening speech anyway, and he was beyond adorable with the various children up on the stage. You can tell he's got a lot of practice with kids, and I got the impression he's probably an amazing dad. He takes the time to talk with kids and, if they're nervous, he'll try to draw them out a bit by starting the conversation himself.
The crowd had set up a little bit too far beyond the starting line, so he asked folks to move back. Of course, nobody did, because who would move away from the stage when he was standing there? So, he offered to come down and say hi if everybody would move. That got people shuffling a little, but was overall a failure. He hopped off the stage and actually went into the crowd to say hi, and he almost got crushed. He was about three or four feet away from me at the time, and I got slammed into the woman in front of me. He looked a little panicky, and I got worried for a second, but he hid it with a smile, and pushed his way through the crowd to the front. They slowly got folks to move back behind the start line. He got mobbed for autographs. He was still down in the crowd when the race pushed off, and he actually clogged things up because runners were staying to get photos instead of running.
That was the only time we saw him that day. He supposedly did part of the 5k walk with his mother, but since I was already on the 10k walk at the time, I didn't get to see it. He did a bunch of other stuff that day, too, but the only publicly accessible things beyond the 5k walk were his appearance at LL Bean and a very late night appearance at a local pub. We didn't find out about the LL Bean thing until too late, and we were already asleep by the time he arrived at the pub. I heard from one of the locals that about four thousand people were outside the pub hanging around when he was there, and that he stayed until closing at about 2 AM, so I doubt we would have seen much anyway. He must be a MACHINE though, because him staying out until 2 AM when there was a 7:30 AM kickoff for his 50 mile bike ride was kind of insane.
The second time I saw him was at the beginning of the bike race. He did a quick speech up on stage. I stood about... fifteen feet to the side of the stage and had a good view, but not as good as the view I had for the run/walk. His speech was very short. His sister, who is also adorable and looks a lot like him, got up on stage and told people to leave him alone so he could put his head down and get on his bike. People mobbed him anyway. He managed to get to his bike through a writhing crowd of people. I was just a few feet from the starting line, and managed to get some pictures of him right at the beginning of the ride. Because he had no warm-up time or anything, he was still fiddling with his bike as he pedaled off. He literally was on his bike after his speech in about five minutes.
Me and my fellow stalkers all packed into the car and rode out to a point on the course before the first rest stop. If we'd been more than five minutes slower, we would have missed him. The other bike riders in the race seemed to be pretty used to the fact that most of the fan attention at this event was all for him. As we stood by the side of the road, one of them commented, "Patrick's coming right up the hill behind me," as he pedaled past. We waved as PD climbed a ginormous hill. He was totally out of breath, but he still took the time to say hi and thanks and make eye contact as he pedaled past, though it was pretty humorous hearing him go "Hi." *pant* *pant* "Thanks!" *pant* *pant*
Here's the hill. One of the specs on the road is him. Unfortunately my picture as he rode by didn't come out very well. I think I lowered my camera too fast, because I got a picture of my feet instead :P
We caught him at the finish line again after about six hours. Remember how I said he can't say no? He apparently extended his bike ride by about 2 hours because he couldn't stop stopping to say hi to people. Next year, if we do this again, I think we're going to try and find a place to catch him later on the course that's not at the top of a giant hill where he can't talk anyway. He seemed to do most of his stopping between the third rest stop and the finish line. According to one of the locals, he even stopped at some woman's house. She answered the door with a toothbrush in her mouth and barely recovered. I guess he stopped maybe to use the rest room. I'm not sure. I would freak out if that happened to me, particularly because my bathroom is sort of disgusting at the moment. Anyway. After he finished the race, he was whisked off by his security detail (he had a LOT of security). He went to put on his warmups, change his shoes, relax with his family and friends, and eat lobster.
Here he is chatting with his sister behind the barrier:
He did that in full view of everyone, not back in a private tent somewhere. The area he ate in was fenced off, but the fence drew a crowd of onlookers. At one point, he approached the barrier and asked the ladies hanging on the fence if they wanted his bike shoes. He tossed both to the waiting crowd. Everyone scrambled for them. I got a picture of one of the shoes after the chaos had died down. For those of you who care, he wears a size 9 :)
I saw him a bunch of other times as he moved to and fro, but nothing super interesting happened beyond the fact that he's him, and he's amazing to watch when he's interacting with people.
Finally, he did the survivors' walk, and spoke at the closing ceremony. The guy could be a standup comedian the way he had the entire crowd roaring with laughter. Very funny guy, very quick-witted. Most of his jokes were totally improv. He spoke to the crowd on and off for a good twenty to thirty minutes. After he'd finished helping with the announcement of the raffle winners, he made a joke about how he wanted to give more stuff away. He pulled off his hat and said he'd give that away. He tossed it into the crowd. Then his sister put another hat on him. He giggled, and he tossed that. Then another person on stage put ANOTHER hat on him, and he tossed that. They ran out of hats after that, and then he eventually had to leave after cracking a few more jokes and making some more serious closing statements. He was whisked away on a golf cart, which stopped so he could hop out to give his mom a big hug, and off he went into the sunset to catch his plane or whatever.
Here he is after he ran out of hats. His mother and sister and niece are to the right of him.
Fantastic guy. I didn't doubt that he was nice before, given how many people have said so, but I guess I'll add my voice to the choir. He's the real deal. Even when he's tired and sick, he's polite, he takes time with his fans, and, honestly, he just seems to live life with a cheerful sort of gusto. I imagine he has his bad days just like anyone, but after days of constant smiles despite a horrifically busy schedule, being a little sick, and having no sleep, I'm convinced that he's completely genuine.
The one thing that really, really surprised me was how slight he is. He's about my height, 5'10", but he is skinny as a rail, maybe skinnier, so he comes off very tiny despite his height. That basically means Ellen Pompeo must be the size of a button, since he dwarfs her. One thing that didn't surprise me was that he's just as gorgeous, if not more so, in person as he is on the television. He doesn't need any stage makeup. He's just naturally that handsome.
That's all for now. I'm pretty tired after my trip. I had sworn I was going to wait until tomorrow to reflect on my time, but I tried to sleep and was a bit too wired. Maybe now I'll get some sleep :)
I think that was quite possibly one of the best weekends I've ever had in recent memory. Flying out to meet people you've only spoken to online before can be quite daunting. I honestly almost didn't go because I was pretty nervous about it. But, apparently, the ladies I have spent so much time online with the past four years or so are just as cool, if not more so, in person, as they are online. I had a lovely time. Maine in October is a very picturesque state. The weather for the Dempsey Challenge was incredible. Crisp, cool, and clear for both days, and the fall foliage made everything very colorful (I would LOVE to see it when the foliage is at its peak). Apologies for the picture quality; I only had my iPhone.
I did the 10k walk/run, which was a phenomenal experience. Walking astride with thousands of other people who had survived, or known someone with cancer, or simply supported the idea of giving support to those struggling with cancer, was something I will never forget. Really, cancer touches all of us, and it was very moving to be in such a large crowd gathered for such a good cause.
Enough of that, though. I know why you're all really reading this blog entry! You want the skinny on Patrick Dempsey, right? Well, here it is.
Patrick Dempsey is quite possibly one of the funniest, most charming individuals I've ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. He pretty much lights up the space he's in with his energy and enthusiasm. I didn't get to meet him personally, but I can't count on one hand the number of times I was within a few feet (we're talking less than five) away, watching him interact with other fans, or MCing various events. He was mobbed pretty much everywhere he went, though, which limited my opportunities to get a word in and ask for a photo. I was too shy to push in for a photo with such a noisy crowd always around him, but I was close enough often enough that I probably could have gotten one if I'd been diligent about it.
He was adorable because, really? Honestly? The man can't say no. He literally cannot do it. Not even a little bit. He can't even waffle. If you ask him for a picture or an autograph, he WILL stop and take the time. He was on a very tight schedule, and his security literally had to drag him off by his arm more than once.
The first time I saw him was the opening ceremony for the 5/10k run/walk. I was about 4 feet back from the barrier at the center of the stage, so he was pretty much right in front of me. I felt a little bad for him because he sounded very congested and hoarse, and he looked pretty pale. In interviews later that day, he was sniffly, too. It was obvious he either was sick or hadn't gotten much sleep, but he made a fantastic opening speech anyway, and he was beyond adorable with the various children up on the stage. You can tell he's got a lot of practice with kids, and I got the impression he's probably an amazing dad. He takes the time to talk with kids and, if they're nervous, he'll try to draw them out a bit by starting the conversation himself.
The crowd had set up a little bit too far beyond the starting line, so he asked folks to move back. Of course, nobody did, because who would move away from the stage when he was standing there? So, he offered to come down and say hi if everybody would move. That got people shuffling a little, but was overall a failure. He hopped off the stage and actually went into the crowd to say hi, and he almost got crushed. He was about three or four feet away from me at the time, and I got slammed into the woman in front of me. He looked a little panicky, and I got worried for a second, but he hid it with a smile, and pushed his way through the crowd to the front. They slowly got folks to move back behind the start line. He got mobbed for autographs. He was still down in the crowd when the race pushed off, and he actually clogged things up because runners were staying to get photos instead of running.
That was the only time we saw him that day. He supposedly did part of the 5k walk with his mother, but since I was already on the 10k walk at the time, I didn't get to see it. He did a bunch of other stuff that day, too, but the only publicly accessible things beyond the 5k walk were his appearance at LL Bean and a very late night appearance at a local pub. We didn't find out about the LL Bean thing until too late, and we were already asleep by the time he arrived at the pub. I heard from one of the locals that about four thousand people were outside the pub hanging around when he was there, and that he stayed until closing at about 2 AM, so I doubt we would have seen much anyway. He must be a MACHINE though, because him staying out until 2 AM when there was a 7:30 AM kickoff for his 50 mile bike ride was kind of insane.
The second time I saw him was at the beginning of the bike race. He did a quick speech up on stage. I stood about... fifteen feet to the side of the stage and had a good view, but not as good as the view I had for the run/walk. His speech was very short. His sister, who is also adorable and looks a lot like him, got up on stage and told people to leave him alone so he could put his head down and get on his bike. People mobbed him anyway. He managed to get to his bike through a writhing crowd of people. I was just a few feet from the starting line, and managed to get some pictures of him right at the beginning of the ride. Because he had no warm-up time or anything, he was still fiddling with his bike as he pedaled off. He literally was on his bike after his speech in about five minutes.
Me and my fellow stalkers all packed into the car and rode out to a point on the course before the first rest stop. If we'd been more than five minutes slower, we would have missed him. The other bike riders in the race seemed to be pretty used to the fact that most of the fan attention at this event was all for him. As we stood by the side of the road, one of them commented, "Patrick's coming right up the hill behind me," as he pedaled past. We waved as PD climbed a ginormous hill. He was totally out of breath, but he still took the time to say hi and thanks and make eye contact as he pedaled past, though it was pretty humorous hearing him go "Hi." *pant* *pant* "Thanks!" *pant* *pant*
Here's the hill. One of the specs on the road is him. Unfortunately my picture as he rode by didn't come out very well. I think I lowered my camera too fast, because I got a picture of my feet instead :P
We caught him at the finish line again after about six hours. Remember how I said he can't say no? He apparently extended his bike ride by about 2 hours because he couldn't stop stopping to say hi to people. Next year, if we do this again, I think we're going to try and find a place to catch him later on the course that's not at the top of a giant hill where he can't talk anyway. He seemed to do most of his stopping between the third rest stop and the finish line. According to one of the locals, he even stopped at some woman's house. She answered the door with a toothbrush in her mouth and barely recovered. I guess he stopped maybe to use the rest room. I'm not sure. I would freak out if that happened to me, particularly because my bathroom is sort of disgusting at the moment. Anyway. After he finished the race, he was whisked off by his security detail (he had a LOT of security). He went to put on his warmups, change his shoes, relax with his family and friends, and eat lobster.
Here he is chatting with his sister behind the barrier:
He did that in full view of everyone, not back in a private tent somewhere. The area he ate in was fenced off, but the fence drew a crowd of onlookers. At one point, he approached the barrier and asked the ladies hanging on the fence if they wanted his bike shoes. He tossed both to the waiting crowd. Everyone scrambled for them. I got a picture of one of the shoes after the chaos had died down. For those of you who care, he wears a size 9 :)
I saw him a bunch of other times as he moved to and fro, but nothing super interesting happened beyond the fact that he's him, and he's amazing to watch when he's interacting with people.
Finally, he did the survivors' walk, and spoke at the closing ceremony. The guy could be a standup comedian the way he had the entire crowd roaring with laughter. Very funny guy, very quick-witted. Most of his jokes were totally improv. He spoke to the crowd on and off for a good twenty to thirty minutes. After he'd finished helping with the announcement of the raffle winners, he made a joke about how he wanted to give more stuff away. He pulled off his hat and said he'd give that away. He tossed it into the crowd. Then his sister put another hat on him. He giggled, and he tossed that. Then another person on stage put ANOTHER hat on him, and he tossed that. They ran out of hats after that, and then he eventually had to leave after cracking a few more jokes and making some more serious closing statements. He was whisked away on a golf cart, which stopped so he could hop out to give his mom a big hug, and off he went into the sunset to catch his plane or whatever.
Here he is after he ran out of hats. His mother and sister and niece are to the right of him.
Fantastic guy. I didn't doubt that he was nice before, given how many people have said so, but I guess I'll add my voice to the choir. He's the real deal. Even when he's tired and sick, he's polite, he takes time with his fans, and, honestly, he just seems to live life with a cheerful sort of gusto. I imagine he has his bad days just like anyone, but after days of constant smiles despite a horrifically busy schedule, being a little sick, and having no sleep, I'm convinced that he's completely genuine.
The one thing that really, really surprised me was how slight he is. He's about my height, 5'10", but he is skinny as a rail, maybe skinnier, so he comes off very tiny despite his height. That basically means Ellen Pompeo must be the size of a button, since he dwarfs her. One thing that didn't surprise me was that he's just as gorgeous, if not more so, in person as he is on the television. He doesn't need any stage makeup. He's just naturally that handsome.
That's all for now. I'm pretty tired after my trip. I had sworn I was going to wait until tomorrow to reflect on my time, but I tried to sleep and was a bit too wired. Maybe now I'll get some sleep :)