On Acting:
I thrive on taking incredible risks in a pure way. I have a love for playing characters that I can identify with and connect to because it makes it that much easier for me to disappear into the part.
On Writing:
I enjoy collaborative writing far more to writing on my own. There is just something about two writers finding the “third voice” together that I find extremely rewarding. It also makes the brainstorming process more fun when I am working with a friend.
On Directors:
I enjoy placing myself completely in the director’s hands. I love being under a directors control and I love being there to help their vision. Helping someone put their ideas in the world is a rewarding place for me to be.
The professional relationship of actor to director requires an extraordinary level of trust and mutual support. I like being coaxed as an actor, to be brought out of my shell. I don’t do well being pushed and being told what I have to do. I do much better when someone’s very in control and self-assured without being forceful.
On Film Making:
Developing a film is a collaborative process so I prefer to work with people that I like to be around. The producer, writer, director and actor are all going to be working on the set together very closely, and for me, it’s easier to work with people I actually want to hang out with.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A Tale of Two Torry's and The Great Heinz Ketchup Scandal
Today I decided that I would get serious about writing my blogs on here. Unfortunately the last time that I had posted here was in December of 2006 and I couldn’t remember what my login name or password was. It was driving me crazy at first and I tried everything to get in. I even tried searching under my name, “Torry”. I discovered that the name was already taken by someone else though so on a lark I decided to investigate who this other “Torry” was. (I’ve never met a Torry who spells his name the same way as I do so I was curious.)
What I learned about the other Torry is this:
1) He’s a Libra. (So am I but I don’t buy into horoscopes)
2) He’s a Christian (So am I)
3) He was a finalist for a reality show. (So was I)
4) He lives in Tennessee (So do I- we are about an hour and a half away from each other)
5) He enjoys working with teens (So do I- I perform at youth conventions and write for a teen magazine)
6) He enjoys writing (Duh- me too)
7) He apparently enjoys the arts and attended a show on Broadway. (Ditto here.)
8) He believes in the importance of mentoring. (I mentor several people in the arts)
9) He has recovered from leukemia (I recovered from anorexia. Heh-heh- just joking)
10) He had all of his wisdom teeth pulled. (Me too but it was the salt-water taffy that I blame)
11) He was the featured lead in a documentary that was filmed. (I'm the featured lead in a documentary that is filming now.)
12 He has a great sense of humor and a love for God. (likewise and ditto etc)
Anyway, it was pretty interesting and it felt like it was sort of a holy introduction of sorts. He’s a REALLY good writer too by the way and I enjoyed reading his blogs. (You should check them out. I cracked up reading “Birfday”) Soooo…since I am a BIG believer in how God directs our steps, the thought occurred to me that this may be something that He set up. Keeping that in mind, I have decided to make a record of this just for fun, in case it does indeed turn out to be a “God thing”. If not-oh well. The other Torry seems like a kindred spirit regardless so I sent him an email and introduced myself to him. I’ll keep up to date postings on what, if anything, develops.
Now, for the latest in the ORIGINAL Torry’s life. (I’m older that the other Torry so that makes me the first. Heh!)
I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project last month and I had an absolute blast. There were 47 teams competing in Nashville this year and I got picked to be an actor on the most amazing team assembled. Ryan Hamblin and Jeremy Mazza were my directors and they were absolutely brilliant. I even got to act opposite the talented Kenton Foster who was in the Sheryl Crow Superbowl commercial last year and was great in it. The whole experience was wonderful. It was especially fun to see the film that we made up on the screen at the Belcourt Theater with all of the other entries that were filmed. Man, Nashville has some talented film makers! The best part for me though was that the night of the awards I ended up winning “Best Actor”. I was stunned when my director called to tell me. I was teaching at a writers conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the time and couldn’t attend the awards in Nashville myself. Anyway, I was in the lobby of my hotel when my cell phone rang with the news and it made my whole night for me. Just a great feeling. If you’d like to view the film you can check it out on youtube by going to the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wALyvGAz91o
A few days later I heard about how Heinz ketchup was having a contest to make a commercial for them so I called Ryan (my 48 Hour director) and asked if he wanted to team up and enter it together. Ryan said yes so I quickly set about the business of writing the commercial which I thought turned out pretty clever and a bit goofy. We had a lot of fun filming it and kept cracking up all the way through. The unfortunate thing about it is…well, apparently a few (meaning 4-5) of my fellow Christians had a problem with the commercial because they thought it had sexual innuendos in it. I was talking about ketchup though so I have no idea what they were thinking. Perverts! (I’m kidding!) Anyway, a part of me feels bad for upsetting a few folks, another part of me feels like I was passed judgment on a little too severely (but then we Christians are known for that), and another part of me just feels like these people need to lighten up a little. I have to honestly say that it was not my intention to upset anyone however and I do regret that I did. I’m a bit surprised at some of the response though because I had run the commercial by three of my mentors, my Pastor, and 2 of my publishers before I even filmed it and they all thought it was funny and not a big deal. Oh well, even the best laid plans go awry. Here is a link to the commercial on youtube though so you can form your own opinion.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QZV0rs8qvWg
Please let me know in the comment section what you thought of it. I’ve only been a Christian for ten years now so I’m still a little naïve when it comes to what offends other Christians BUT I’m serious about my relationship with God and I am always open to correction and discipline. Besides, how do we get to be better followers of Christ if no one explains in a loving manner how to achieve that? I need you folks to educate me and hold me accountable so share your thoughts. Just for the record though, I thought it was actually pretty funny and I still don’t think it is the big deal that a few others did. In fact, in my opinion I think they are kind of over reacting. Lemme know your honest thoughts as it is my greatest desire to be the very best follower of Christ than I can be. Your insights will also help me in my decision making for any other future comedic endeavors as well.
Let’s see…what else? I recently started filming a movie last Saturday and I was pretty excited about it. I had a great part and got to meet some fantastic people on the set. Jerry Foster (11 ASCAP awards, several #1 hits) was one of the folks and Glenn Douglas Tubb (relative of Ernest Tubb and also a songwriter) was another. They were great guys and very talented actors. Then the unthinkable happened. On Monday the production shut down completely. The movie as it stands now is going unfinished. I’m disappointed to say the least but there is still a chance that it might get picked up. I’m praying that it will.
Okay, that’s all for now. I’m starting a screenwriting class in Nashville tonight and am already excited about making some new friends with my fellow writers. I’ve gotta get some work done first though so off I go!
What I learned about the other Torry is this:
1) He’s a Libra. (So am I but I don’t buy into horoscopes)
2) He’s a Christian (So am I)
3) He was a finalist for a reality show. (So was I)
4) He lives in Tennessee (So do I- we are about an hour and a half away from each other)
5) He enjoys working with teens (So do I- I perform at youth conventions and write for a teen magazine)
6) He enjoys writing (Duh- me too)
7) He apparently enjoys the arts and attended a show on Broadway. (Ditto here.)
8) He believes in the importance of mentoring. (I mentor several people in the arts)
9) He has recovered from leukemia (I recovered from anorexia. Heh-heh- just joking)
10) He had all of his wisdom teeth pulled. (Me too but it was the salt-water taffy that I blame)
11) He was the featured lead in a documentary that was filmed. (I'm the featured lead in a documentary that is filming now.)
12 He has a great sense of humor and a love for God. (likewise and ditto etc)
Anyway, it was pretty interesting and it felt like it was sort of a holy introduction of sorts. He’s a REALLY good writer too by the way and I enjoyed reading his blogs. (You should check them out. I cracked up reading “Birfday”) Soooo…since I am a BIG believer in how God directs our steps, the thought occurred to me that this may be something that He set up. Keeping that in mind, I have decided to make a record of this just for fun, in case it does indeed turn out to be a “God thing”. If not-oh well. The other Torry seems like a kindred spirit regardless so I sent him an email and introduced myself to him. I’ll keep up to date postings on what, if anything, develops.
Now, for the latest in the ORIGINAL Torry’s life. (I’m older that the other Torry so that makes me the first. Heh!)
I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project last month and I had an absolute blast. There were 47 teams competing in Nashville this year and I got picked to be an actor on the most amazing team assembled. Ryan Hamblin and Jeremy Mazza were my directors and they were absolutely brilliant. I even got to act opposite the talented Kenton Foster who was in the Sheryl Crow Superbowl commercial last year and was great in it. The whole experience was wonderful. It was especially fun to see the film that we made up on the screen at the Belcourt Theater with all of the other entries that were filmed. Man, Nashville has some talented film makers! The best part for me though was that the night of the awards I ended up winning “Best Actor”. I was stunned when my director called to tell me. I was teaching at a writers conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the time and couldn’t attend the awards in Nashville myself. Anyway, I was in the lobby of my hotel when my cell phone rang with the news and it made my whole night for me. Just a great feeling. If you’d like to view the film you can check it out on youtube by going to the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wALyvGAz91o
A few days later I heard about how Heinz ketchup was having a contest to make a commercial for them so I called Ryan (my 48 Hour director) and asked if he wanted to team up and enter it together. Ryan said yes so I quickly set about the business of writing the commercial which I thought turned out pretty clever and a bit goofy. We had a lot of fun filming it and kept cracking up all the way through. The unfortunate thing about it is…well, apparently a few (meaning 4-5) of my fellow Christians had a problem with the commercial because they thought it had sexual innuendos in it. I was talking about ketchup though so I have no idea what they were thinking. Perverts! (I’m kidding!) Anyway, a part of me feels bad for upsetting a few folks, another part of me feels like I was passed judgment on a little too severely (but then we Christians are known for that), and another part of me just feels like these people need to lighten up a little. I have to honestly say that it was not my intention to upset anyone however and I do regret that I did. I’m a bit surprised at some of the response though because I had run the commercial by three of my mentors, my Pastor, and 2 of my publishers before I even filmed it and they all thought it was funny and not a big deal. Oh well, even the best laid plans go awry. Here is a link to the commercial on youtube though so you can form your own opinion.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QZV0rs8qvWg
Please let me know in the comment section what you thought of it. I’ve only been a Christian for ten years now so I’m still a little naïve when it comes to what offends other Christians BUT I’m serious about my relationship with God and I am always open to correction and discipline. Besides, how do we get to be better followers of Christ if no one explains in a loving manner how to achieve that? I need you folks to educate me and hold me accountable so share your thoughts. Just for the record though, I thought it was actually pretty funny and I still don’t think it is the big deal that a few others did. In fact, in my opinion I think they are kind of over reacting. Lemme know your honest thoughts as it is my greatest desire to be the very best follower of Christ than I can be. Your insights will also help me in my decision making for any other future comedic endeavors as well.
Let’s see…what else? I recently started filming a movie last Saturday and I was pretty excited about it. I had a great part and got to meet some fantastic people on the set. Jerry Foster (11 ASCAP awards, several #1 hits) was one of the folks and Glenn Douglas Tubb (relative of Ernest Tubb and also a songwriter) was another. They were great guys and very talented actors. Then the unthinkable happened. On Monday the production shut down completely. The movie as it stands now is going unfinished. I’m disappointed to say the least but there is still a chance that it might get picked up. I’m praying that it will.
Okay, that’s all for now. I’m starting a screenwriting class in Nashville tonight and am already excited about making some new friends with my fellow writers. I’ve gotta get some work done first though so off I go!
Missed Manners
As a writer, I prefer picking my own subjects to write about because it’s more enjoyable for me and goes much faster that way. This month however my editor assigned me the topic of “manners”. My initial reaction to the subject matter? A sarcastically muttered “oh puhleeze” followed with an abrupt “no thanks!” Now both responses sound polite but believe me, they way that I was thinking them it was anything but. All I was feeling about writing a column on manners was a complete “blech!” (Please note that I said “blech” and not “belch” because of course belching is rude.)
Not wanting to cause any problems for my beloved editor however I set about the task at hand. Now generally if I’m unfamiliar with a topic I’m assigned, I like to research it and then hopefully I can get excited about it. But the subject of manners didn’t interest me in the least so I was completely unmotivated. I sat in the living room instead and stared at the ceiling while spinning around in my recliner. Finally my room mate Rob came in from working in the garage.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working on your article?” Rob asked.
“Yeah but the topic is manners and I don’t think it’s important,” I said while spinning in my chair.
“What do you mean manners aren’t important?” Rob said with unbelief. “Without manners our society would totally fall apart.”
“Right,” I said, feeling sure that he was exaggerating. “Prove it,” I challenged.
Rather than explaining his reasoning, Rob proposed that we do an experiment instead and make a bet to go a full 24 hours without either of us using manners or being polite to each other. Then at the end of the 24 hours we would mutually determine whether manners were important to society or whether we could function just as happily without them. The clincher of the bet though was that if either one of us was polite, that person would be deemed the loser. It sounded good to me. Besides I was bored of spinning in my chair anyway. Suddenly the phone rang and I could tell by the look in Rob’s eyes that our experiment had begun.
“Are you gonna get that?” I asked.
“Nope,” he replied calmly.
“You’re closest to the phone,” I said.
“So?”
Irritated by the ringing, I caved in and answered.
“Hello?” It was Rob’s mom on the line.
“Is Rob there?”
“Nope,” I lied while looking directly at Rob.
“Well will you have him call me when he gets in?”
“Yep,” I lied again, determining not to tell him.
“Thanks, Torry.”
“Whatever” I said and hung up. Suddenly this being rude thing was turning kinda fun.
“Who was on the phone?’ Rob inquired.
“It was some old lady looking for someone,” I replied, “but it’s really none of your business.” I then headed to the kitchen to make myself a lunch.
Rob saw that I was making a sandwich so he asked me to make him one too.
“Nope. Not today, loser. You’re on your own,” I rudely informed him.
Rob paused for a moment but I could tell that he was thinking. “Okay but you’re gonna be sorry,” he finally replied.
“Well if I am sorry I won’t be apologizing for it until tomorrow,” I said to remind him of the 24 hour time line of our bet.
He then turned around and headed for the bathroom before making his way back down to the garage. Meanwhile I proceeded to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. By the way, I actually hate peanut butter and jelly but it’s all we had left in the house. Then about 20 minutes after I had finished eating, I was back to spinning in my chair when suddenly the doorbell rang. Remembering how Rob refused to answer the phone I did the same with the doorbell. Rob yelled upstairs to me. “Torry, do you wanna get the door?”
“Nope,” I stated flatly.
“Okay,” he said, “but you had your chance.” Rob opened the door to reveal a pizza delivery man holding a pepperoni and pineapple pizza which just happens to be my favorite. Rob then handed the delivery man a twenty dollar bill and told him to keep the change. That was quite a hefty tip I thought considering it was only an $8 pizza.
“Can I have some?” I asked.
“Nope. Not today loser. You’re on your own.” Rob cheerfully replied while heading downstairs with his pizza.
“Wait a second,” I said sounding superior, “you have to give me a piece! Our bet is over now. You were nice.”
“Nice to who?” he asked.
“The pizza guy! I saw you give him a $20 and tell him to keep the change.”
“It wasn’t my $20,” he replied, “and you shouldn’t leave your wallet in the bathroom.” He then walked off carrying the pizza into his garage.
I was furious! I quickly devised a plan for revenge and I called his mom back. I lied and told her that Rob told me to lie when she called earlier and say that he wasn’t here when really he was. I then informed her that my Christian conscience had gotten to me and I told her that she should call him back and chew him out for making me lie. She agreed. The phone rang, I answered, I called down to Rob to come get the phone and as soon as he came upstairs and grabbed the receiver, I headed downstairs to lock myself in the garage with his pizza.
About ten minutes later I was halfway through with the pizza when I heard the phone ring again. Rob called down to tell me that the call was for me and since I was full of pizza I decided to go and answer it. Rob headed back down the stairs to his food while I picked up the phone. It was Rob’s mom.
“Who are YOU calling an OLD LADY!!!?” she bellowed.
Uh-oh. Apparently Rob had told her what I had said when she called earlier.
I assure you, dear readers that by the time Rob’s mom had finished chewing me out; I was a FIRM believer in the importance of manners.
It had only been an hour into the bet when Rob and I mutually decided to call it off before we killed each other. But Rob was right; a society without manners is destined for destruction. In fact I challenge you that as Christians, we need to have even more manners than non-believers. After all, it is we who are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And that’s not just a suggestion, it’s a commandment. And a pretty good one too, thank you very much!
Not wanting to cause any problems for my beloved editor however I set about the task at hand. Now generally if I’m unfamiliar with a topic I’m assigned, I like to research it and then hopefully I can get excited about it. But the subject of manners didn’t interest me in the least so I was completely unmotivated. I sat in the living room instead and stared at the ceiling while spinning around in my recliner. Finally my room mate Rob came in from working in the garage.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working on your article?” Rob asked.
“Yeah but the topic is manners and I don’t think it’s important,” I said while spinning in my chair.
“What do you mean manners aren’t important?” Rob said with unbelief. “Without manners our society would totally fall apart.”
“Right,” I said, feeling sure that he was exaggerating. “Prove it,” I challenged.
Rather than explaining his reasoning, Rob proposed that we do an experiment instead and make a bet to go a full 24 hours without either of us using manners or being polite to each other. Then at the end of the 24 hours we would mutually determine whether manners were important to society or whether we could function just as happily without them. The clincher of the bet though was that if either one of us was polite, that person would be deemed the loser. It sounded good to me. Besides I was bored of spinning in my chair anyway. Suddenly the phone rang and I could tell by the look in Rob’s eyes that our experiment had begun.
“Are you gonna get that?” I asked.
“Nope,” he replied calmly.
“You’re closest to the phone,” I said.
“So?”
Irritated by the ringing, I caved in and answered.
“Hello?” It was Rob’s mom on the line.
“Is Rob there?”
“Nope,” I lied while looking directly at Rob.
“Well will you have him call me when he gets in?”
“Yep,” I lied again, determining not to tell him.
“Thanks, Torry.”
“Whatever” I said and hung up. Suddenly this being rude thing was turning kinda fun.
“Who was on the phone?’ Rob inquired.
“It was some old lady looking for someone,” I replied, “but it’s really none of your business.” I then headed to the kitchen to make myself a lunch.
Rob saw that I was making a sandwich so he asked me to make him one too.
“Nope. Not today, loser. You’re on your own,” I rudely informed him.
Rob paused for a moment but I could tell that he was thinking. “Okay but you’re gonna be sorry,” he finally replied.
“Well if I am sorry I won’t be apologizing for it until tomorrow,” I said to remind him of the 24 hour time line of our bet.
He then turned around and headed for the bathroom before making his way back down to the garage. Meanwhile I proceeded to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. By the way, I actually hate peanut butter and jelly but it’s all we had left in the house. Then about 20 minutes after I had finished eating, I was back to spinning in my chair when suddenly the doorbell rang. Remembering how Rob refused to answer the phone I did the same with the doorbell. Rob yelled upstairs to me. “Torry, do you wanna get the door?”
“Nope,” I stated flatly.
“Okay,” he said, “but you had your chance.” Rob opened the door to reveal a pizza delivery man holding a pepperoni and pineapple pizza which just happens to be my favorite. Rob then handed the delivery man a twenty dollar bill and told him to keep the change. That was quite a hefty tip I thought considering it was only an $8 pizza.
“Can I have some?” I asked.
“Nope. Not today loser. You’re on your own.” Rob cheerfully replied while heading downstairs with his pizza.
“Wait a second,” I said sounding superior, “you have to give me a piece! Our bet is over now. You were nice.”
“Nice to who?” he asked.
“The pizza guy! I saw you give him a $20 and tell him to keep the change.”
“It wasn’t my $20,” he replied, “and you shouldn’t leave your wallet in the bathroom.” He then walked off carrying the pizza into his garage.
I was furious! I quickly devised a plan for revenge and I called his mom back. I lied and told her that Rob told me to lie when she called earlier and say that he wasn’t here when really he was. I then informed her that my Christian conscience had gotten to me and I told her that she should call him back and chew him out for making me lie. She agreed. The phone rang, I answered, I called down to Rob to come get the phone and as soon as he came upstairs and grabbed the receiver, I headed downstairs to lock myself in the garage with his pizza.
About ten minutes later I was halfway through with the pizza when I heard the phone ring again. Rob called down to tell me that the call was for me and since I was full of pizza I decided to go and answer it. Rob headed back down the stairs to his food while I picked up the phone. It was Rob’s mom.
“Who are YOU calling an OLD LADY!!!?” she bellowed.
Uh-oh. Apparently Rob had told her what I had said when she called earlier.
I assure you, dear readers that by the time Rob’s mom had finished chewing me out; I was a FIRM believer in the importance of manners.
It had only been an hour into the bet when Rob and I mutually decided to call it off before we killed each other. But Rob was right; a society without manners is destined for destruction. In fact I challenge you that as Christians, we need to have even more manners than non-believers. After all, it is we who are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And that’s not just a suggestion, it’s a commandment. And a pretty good one too, thank you very much!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Why is your nick name Moose?
Well first of all my first name is really Torry and I've always hated it. It's Irish and it means "mischievous dwarf". Go figure. It's only partly correct because I do enjoy my mischief but as for the dwarf? Hardly. What the heck were my parents thinking? My middle name is De…which again I hate. In fact when I was in high school is when the movie "Grease" first came out. The kids in school changed the words to the "Look at Me, I'm Sanda Dee" song that Stockard Channing sang in the movie and rewrote it to apply to me and make fun of my weight.
The original lyrics were: Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee, lousy with virginity. Won't go to bed till I'm legally wed, I can't, I'm Sandra Dee.
The lyrics they changed for me were: Look at me, I'm Torry De. Stretch marked from obesity. Won't go to bed until I'm fully fed, I can't, I'm Torry De.
I hated high school.
It was sheer misery for me. My ADD and obsessive compulsive disorder didn't help matters either.
My dad wanted my initials to be T.D. because he wanted me to be a football player. He called me "Touchdown" or "T.D." for the first eight years of my life. Then he realized that I wasn't any good at sports and had no interest in them whatsoever. What a disappointment. BUT…he loved me anyway cause that's how Dad's are. Or rather how they should be. I was just lucky I guess. When my father discovered that I had a sense of humor though it all made up for it. He especially liked it when I couldn't figure things out or would get confused or distracted when I was working on something. Or I'd forget what I was talking about in the middle of a sentence. He'd just laugh and shake his head while saying "Watching you is like watching my favorite cartoon."
Okay…so…um…what was I talking about? Oh! Moose! Why my nick name is Moose. That's it.
Well when I was living in Alaska I was worked a few years as a camp host for Alaska State Parks and as I'd be walking the campgrounds and checking in campers and gathering camping fee's etc I'd always notice the moose droppings on the ground. If they were fresh I knew that I needed to be careful while I was walking around because I might run into one. You don't ever want to be caught off guard by standing between a momma moose and her baby let me tell ya. Mother moose are very violent and have trampled people to death for such an offense. It usually happened several times a year and you could read it in the newspaper because the stories were always covered to serve as a warning. Anyway, I had been at a gift shop in Anchorage one day and I saw that they carried moose dropping jewelry that someone had made. I also saw that the tourists were buying the jewelry like crazy to take back with them as humorous souvenirs for the friends and family back home. That got my mind to thinking that "Hey! Maybe I could do this! I see tons of moose dropping every day in the campground. Heck! I'm practically rich and I don't even know it. I've got the equivalent to gold nuggets in moose dropping all over where I live!" I then started picking up moose droppings every day and asking campers to keep an eye out for the fresh stuff and to come get me if they saw some. I'd tell them my name was Torry but no one could remember it. They'd call me Troy, Cory, Terry, Rory and every name but mine. One day I introduced myself to a camper and asked him to keep an eye out for moose droppings for me. He was like this new age hippie type of guy, pretty cool too, and he said, "What kind of a name is Torry? That name doesn't fit you, man. You belong in the woods so I'm naming you Moose. The mighty beast!" I was like "Really? Cool!" Then the camper guy said "Yeah, way cool and stuff. Plus Moose are known for having really small brains and not being too smart so it kind of fits ya." I just looked at him when he said that part though, as I wasn't sure if I should feel insulted or if he was teasing. Then he said "Your shirts on backwards,' and walked away. And sure enough, my shirt was on backwards but it was a sweatshirt so it's hard to tell when you're the one wearing it and not the one looking at it so you know…whatever. It doesn't mean I have a small brain. Anyway, I started introducing myself as Moose and the name stuck. Then I started making business cards and product cards to attach my jewelry too and they all stated "Jewelry by Moose" on them. Which was kind of funny too because the jewelry was indeed made by a moose.
Just for fun now I'm going to tell you how to make a moose-dropping necklace.
Pick up FRESH moose droppings. About 23-25 pieces will do nicely.
Thread them together IMMEDIATELY while they are still fresh and soft so they are easy to thread with metallic wire. If you wait until they dry out they will crumble when you try to thread them and you'll be wasting good droppings.
After they are threaded together place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in an oven for exactly 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Keep your kitchen window open though because it gets a little stinky when they're cooking.
After they are dry you can paint or stain them any color you'd like and then varnish them to make them shiny or just varnish them as they are. They still look pretty.
I also made tie-tacs, cuff links, earrings and nose rings out of my moose droppings. (The nose rings never really took off though and now that I think about it I guess the reason was apparent. Funny how you don't think of things until later huh?) The tie-tacs, nose rings, earring and cufflinks were all basically the same thing though- just single moose droppings with a small jewelry rod attachment thingy glue gunned on the back. I'd package them differently though and in sets or singles. The package was the real eye catcher because it was illustrated and showed a moose dropping his doo-doo out of his rear while looking over his shoulder and winking. He also had a daisy in his mouth. It was funny.
Oh- I might as well tell you something else about the moose dropping while I'm here too. Okay, one of my other moneymaking schemes was to package my own trail mix and sell it to campers. I could never make enough of it though, as it was a great seller. Then I started making oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies too because the smell of the baking cookies would drift through the campground and people would start following the smell and then come buy my cookies. (I would put a sign up at my campfire that said "Fresh Cookies!" whenever they were ready. I was sort of the Krispy Kreme of the wilderness.) Well the head ranger dropped by to visit me one day and bring me some fresh moose dropping from the upper campground that he had picked up and so I offered him a fresh cookie. I had just started using my spatula to remove the cookies from the cookie sheet when he had arrived so there were only a few cookies left on the tray. I offered them to him for free as a thank you for the moose droppings and he stood there and ate four of them quickly while chatting with me. Then when I saw the cookie sheet was empty I dumped out the bag of fresh moose droppings on it that he had brought me. I immediately started threading them together while they were fresh so I could bake them in the over. He stood there with his last half eaten cookie in his hand and then looked at me and asked "Do you always use the same cookie sheet for your cookies as you do for the moose droppings?" I said "Uh-huh," and he fired me.
He said I could have gotten everyone in the campground that had bought my cookies sick by baking them on the same cookie sheet that I dried out the moose droppings on and that I was a lawsuit waiting to happen. He was being way melodramatic if ya ask me. I never got sick once. Sissy whiner.
Anyhoo that's how I ended up working at the fish factory in Anchorage next and making caviar for the Japanese. (I'll NEVER eat caviar again though but the reason why is a long story and I don't want to get off on that tangent now so ask me later and I'll tell you.) Making caviar is what then led to my hosting the kids show for the Fox network affiliate in Anchorage next.
Hosting that kids show was four of the longest months of my life because I didn't find out until too late that I didn't like kids. Can't stand them. Kids are dirty, loud, annoying, and easily distracted little creatures. In short, we are simply too similar to get along.
What was I talking about? I don't know…anyway, that's why my nickname is Moose.
Oh, one more thing. Be careful if you keep a bowl of Whoppers candy on the same table in your house where you are going to sit and thread the bowl of moose droppings. It's easy to confuse the two bowls. I only made that mistake ONCE.
I guess you can see by my random ramblings that I don't know how to edit myself. That's exactly how I am in person too. I just say whatever I'm thinking as I'm thinking it so the thoughts stay fresh. I think it makes it easier for people to string my thoughts together that way.
Besides my job isn't to be an editor. That's someone else's gifting in life. My gifting is to chase dreams, speaking of which…my current dream is to appear in at least a one sentence speaking role on ABC's "Men in Tree's."
How crazy is that for someone who doesn't have an agent and spends his time between Tennessee and Alaska?
Well first of all my first name is really Torry and I've always hated it. It's Irish and it means "mischievous dwarf". Go figure. It's only partly correct because I do enjoy my mischief but as for the dwarf? Hardly. What the heck were my parents thinking? My middle name is De…which again I hate. In fact when I was in high school is when the movie "Grease" first came out. The kids in school changed the words to the "Look at Me, I'm Sanda Dee" song that Stockard Channing sang in the movie and rewrote it to apply to me and make fun of my weight.
The original lyrics were: Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee, lousy with virginity. Won't go to bed till I'm legally wed, I can't, I'm Sandra Dee.
The lyrics they changed for me were: Look at me, I'm Torry De. Stretch marked from obesity. Won't go to bed until I'm fully fed, I can't, I'm Torry De.
I hated high school.
It was sheer misery for me. My ADD and obsessive compulsive disorder didn't help matters either.
My dad wanted my initials to be T.D. because he wanted me to be a football player. He called me "Touchdown" or "T.D." for the first eight years of my life. Then he realized that I wasn't any good at sports and had no interest in them whatsoever. What a disappointment. BUT…he loved me anyway cause that's how Dad's are. Or rather how they should be. I was just lucky I guess. When my father discovered that I had a sense of humor though it all made up for it. He especially liked it when I couldn't figure things out or would get confused or distracted when I was working on something. Or I'd forget what I was talking about in the middle of a sentence. He'd just laugh and shake his head while saying "Watching you is like watching my favorite cartoon."
Okay…so…um…what was I talking about? Oh! Moose! Why my nick name is Moose. That's it.
Well when I was living in Alaska I was worked a few years as a camp host for Alaska State Parks and as I'd be walking the campgrounds and checking in campers and gathering camping fee's etc I'd always notice the moose droppings on the ground. If they were fresh I knew that I needed to be careful while I was walking around because I might run into one. You don't ever want to be caught off guard by standing between a momma moose and her baby let me tell ya. Mother moose are very violent and have trampled people to death for such an offense. It usually happened several times a year and you could read it in the newspaper because the stories were always covered to serve as a warning. Anyway, I had been at a gift shop in Anchorage one day and I saw that they carried moose dropping jewelry that someone had made. I also saw that the tourists were buying the jewelry like crazy to take back with them as humorous souvenirs for the friends and family back home. That got my mind to thinking that "Hey! Maybe I could do this! I see tons of moose dropping every day in the campground. Heck! I'm practically rich and I don't even know it. I've got the equivalent to gold nuggets in moose dropping all over where I live!" I then started picking up moose droppings every day and asking campers to keep an eye out for the fresh stuff and to come get me if they saw some. I'd tell them my name was Torry but no one could remember it. They'd call me Troy, Cory, Terry, Rory and every name but mine. One day I introduced myself to a camper and asked him to keep an eye out for moose droppings for me. He was like this new age hippie type of guy, pretty cool too, and he said, "What kind of a name is Torry? That name doesn't fit you, man. You belong in the woods so I'm naming you Moose. The mighty beast!" I was like "Really? Cool!" Then the camper guy said "Yeah, way cool and stuff. Plus Moose are known for having really small brains and not being too smart so it kind of fits ya." I just looked at him when he said that part though, as I wasn't sure if I should feel insulted or if he was teasing. Then he said "Your shirts on backwards,' and walked away. And sure enough, my shirt was on backwards but it was a sweatshirt so it's hard to tell when you're the one wearing it and not the one looking at it so you know…whatever. It doesn't mean I have a small brain. Anyway, I started introducing myself as Moose and the name stuck. Then I started making business cards and product cards to attach my jewelry too and they all stated "Jewelry by Moose" on them. Which was kind of funny too because the jewelry was indeed made by a moose.
Just for fun now I'm going to tell you how to make a moose-dropping necklace.
Pick up FRESH moose droppings. About 23-25 pieces will do nicely.
Thread them together IMMEDIATELY while they are still fresh and soft so they are easy to thread with metallic wire. If you wait until they dry out they will crumble when you try to thread them and you'll be wasting good droppings.
After they are threaded together place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in an oven for exactly 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Keep your kitchen window open though because it gets a little stinky when they're cooking.
After they are dry you can paint or stain them any color you'd like and then varnish them to make them shiny or just varnish them as they are. They still look pretty.
I also made tie-tacs, cuff links, earrings and nose rings out of my moose droppings. (The nose rings never really took off though and now that I think about it I guess the reason was apparent. Funny how you don't think of things until later huh?) The tie-tacs, nose rings, earring and cufflinks were all basically the same thing though- just single moose droppings with a small jewelry rod attachment thingy glue gunned on the back. I'd package them differently though and in sets or singles. The package was the real eye catcher because it was illustrated and showed a moose dropping his doo-doo out of his rear while looking over his shoulder and winking. He also had a daisy in his mouth. It was funny.
Oh- I might as well tell you something else about the moose dropping while I'm here too. Okay, one of my other moneymaking schemes was to package my own trail mix and sell it to campers. I could never make enough of it though, as it was a great seller. Then I started making oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies too because the smell of the baking cookies would drift through the campground and people would start following the smell and then come buy my cookies. (I would put a sign up at my campfire that said "Fresh Cookies!" whenever they were ready. I was sort of the Krispy Kreme of the wilderness.) Well the head ranger dropped by to visit me one day and bring me some fresh moose dropping from the upper campground that he had picked up and so I offered him a fresh cookie. I had just started using my spatula to remove the cookies from the cookie sheet when he had arrived so there were only a few cookies left on the tray. I offered them to him for free as a thank you for the moose droppings and he stood there and ate four of them quickly while chatting with me. Then when I saw the cookie sheet was empty I dumped out the bag of fresh moose droppings on it that he had brought me. I immediately started threading them together while they were fresh so I could bake them in the over. He stood there with his last half eaten cookie in his hand and then looked at me and asked "Do you always use the same cookie sheet for your cookies as you do for the moose droppings?" I said "Uh-huh," and he fired me.
He said I could have gotten everyone in the campground that had bought my cookies sick by baking them on the same cookie sheet that I dried out the moose droppings on and that I was a lawsuit waiting to happen. He was being way melodramatic if ya ask me. I never got sick once. Sissy whiner.
Anyhoo that's how I ended up working at the fish factory in Anchorage next and making caviar for the Japanese. (I'll NEVER eat caviar again though but the reason why is a long story and I don't want to get off on that tangent now so ask me later and I'll tell you.) Making caviar is what then led to my hosting the kids show for the Fox network affiliate in Anchorage next.
Hosting that kids show was four of the longest months of my life because I didn't find out until too late that I didn't like kids. Can't stand them. Kids are dirty, loud, annoying, and easily distracted little creatures. In short, we are simply too similar to get along.
What was I talking about? I don't know…anyway, that's why my nickname is Moose.
Oh, one more thing. Be careful if you keep a bowl of Whoppers candy on the same table in your house where you are going to sit and thread the bowl of moose droppings. It's easy to confuse the two bowls. I only made that mistake ONCE.
I guess you can see by my random ramblings that I don't know how to edit myself. That's exactly how I am in person too. I just say whatever I'm thinking as I'm thinking it so the thoughts stay fresh. I think it makes it easier for people to string my thoughts together that way.
Besides my job isn't to be an editor. That's someone else's gifting in life. My gifting is to chase dreams, speaking of which…my current dream is to appear in at least a one sentence speaking role on ABC's "Men in Tree's."
How crazy is that for someone who doesn't have an agent and spends his time between Tennessee and Alaska?
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