The Royce Files

I t's been a crazy week trying to eek out a decent radio script while trying to keep active and make sure I don't forget to do some Christmas shopping. Hectic, hectic, hectic. That's why I perfer margin. It got so crazy- especially the rapid winter ascension weather- that I nearly missed my homage to Phil on his birthday. Phil has not had much to say on the blog for a while. He's a bit miffed that James has been stealing the thunder on witting comments. Phil is also carrying a little more responsibility, too. Well, today, it's your day Phil to shine. So I present, a few things Phil might have said. "Garbage bags could provide enough energy to last us a whole year if the polar caps suddenly melted- like that's going to happen anytime." On politics- "I could dress up a yard stick and somebody will probably vote for it." On being told there are too many kinds of beer- "Blasphemy! There is only two kinds of beer. Beer you drink now and bee

G ratitude should be practiced all year round. However, along comes this holiday that the government grants us and we save up all our thanks for this day. Albeit this day includes a feast with the most scrumptious victuals any Yank could desire. The food enough is worthy of thanks. Of course then we run into the possible guilt of gluttony. Oh, well, being introspective does bring out the uglies. Yet, isn't it a bit ironic that following Thanksgiving, we turn to a most gluttonous season that is saturated with the cries of "give me" and "gotta have." It is as if Thanksgiving is around for penitence then we dive into Christmas with commercial gusto. Quite the opposite of Fat Tuesday and Lent. Nevertheless, I wish all my readers a pleasant Thanksgiving and hope you have much to give thanks.

T he 2nd Annual Pizza, Pack, and Pray event went off without a hitch. I think we packed nearly double the amount of boxes as we did last year. Operation Christmas Child is project which gathers shoeboxes filled with toys, candy, school supplies and then in turn distributes these boxes to children in desperate circumstances all around the world. I've been doing it for 8 years and began my church's campaign to fill boxes. There is still time to get a box filled as November 19 is the last day to bring boxes to a collection center in your area. It is very simple and certainly helps give joy and hope to children who otherwise would not experience those things. I have been challenging myself to be more generous the past few years. For me it seems, we've got too much. We've become a consumption dump. OCC is just one way I think I can help someone else and be a conduit to bless others. It is something that transcends ourselves when we take on the attitude that it is better to g