I find tinsel distracting.

If you have seen Seinfeld then you know of Festivus. If not don’t worry Seinfeld re-runs are on all the time and I encourage you to see them. Probably the funniest TV show of all time, hard to explain so I won’t just watch it.

Anyway, during the holiday season we -Tracy and I- make references to festivus like having festivus drink with family and friends. I started thinking of the great quotes from the festivus episode. When I googled it I was surprised to find out that Festivus is real! And not only real but not created b/c of the show.

Festivus actually dates back to ancient Rome (don’t know what is weirder that it’s still a celebration today or that it goes back that far). It was made popular by a Sienfeld writer b/c the writers father actually started it at home as "A non-denominational holiday to be celebrated by those frustrated or jaded with the commercialism and pressure surrounding the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa season".

Aluminum festivus poles can actually be purchased online and the pole merely stands undecorated in place of a tree in your home.
Cosmo Kramer: Is there a tree?
Frank Costanza: No, instead, there's a pole. It requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting. It's made from aluminium. Very high strength-to-weight ratio.
Mr. Kruger: I find your belief system fascinating.

It is usually done on December 23 but is held any time between December and May as to avoid the Christmas rush.

Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

But just like the show there are the mandatory rituals such as, ‘Airing of grievances’ people lash out at others and the world about how they were disappointed in the past year. Every household has its own traditions; in one house, the Airing of Grievances consisted of writing the grievances on the fridge in marker

Frank Costanza: And at the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!
Frank Costanza: I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you're gonna hear about it. You, Kruger. My son tells me your company STINKS!
George Costanza: Oh, God

And finally who could forget ‘The Feats of Strength’. Basically the head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges that person to a wrestling match and only until the head of the household is pinned will it end;

Frank Costanza: I've brought one of the cassette tapes.
Frank Costanza (tape): Read that poem.
George Costanza (tape): I can't read it, I need my glasses.
Frank Costanza (tape): You don't need glasses! You're just weak, weak!
Estelle Costanza (tape): Leave him alone!
Frank Costanza (tape): All right, George. It's time for the Festivus Feats of Strength!
George Costanza: No! No! Turn it off! No feats of strength! I hate Festivus!
Frank Costanza: We had some good times.

So no matter what you celebrate if you feel like most people that Christmas is too comercial then grab a pole and think of all those things and people that have disappointed you this past year and enjoy the ‘Festivus for the rest of us’. Happy festivus and Merry Christmas.