With Festivus Coming Soon, Are You Prepared for the Feats of Strength?

(Dec. 20) -- Tired of all the holiday cheer floating about the air this week? Maybe what you need is a wintertime celebration that lauds the equally important values of mean-spiritedness and vitriol. That's right, Festivus is just around the corner.

Festivus is a secular holiday introduced to the world by a 1997 episode of "Seinfeld" -- though it had actually been practiced by former "Seinfeld" writer Daniel O'Keefe's family since the 1960s.

Though the show has been off the air for years, the annual event has lived on, and untold numbers of fans and Internet denizens come together every Dec. 23 to celebrate "a Festivus for the rest of us."

Want to have your own Festivus party? There are three elements that no successful Festivus can be without.

The Festivus Pole:

Frank Costanza finds tinsel "distracting," so in lieu of a tree, Festivus features only an unadorned aluminum pole with very high strength-to-weight ratio. Don't have a hacksaw? Spare yourself the trouble of harvesting your own and get one here.

Airing of Grievances:

Think of this as sort of the opposite of Thanksgiving. After the traditional Festivus meal, the family gathers around and is encouraged to lecture each other on "all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year."

Feats of Strength:

Like the Airing of Grievances, the Feats of Strength focus on the holiday themes of humiliation and derision. The Seinfeld episode ended before the Feats actually got under way, but they always seemed to be wrestling-oriented. Remember -- almost anyone will appear strong when faced with someone very weak. If George Costanza isn't available, find an especially sickly looking cousin.

Follow Surge Desk on Twitter