With so many major holidays like Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa, it’s easy for us to forget some of the lesser known holidays.

Christmas especially has the overbearing power to shadow these other days with all its tinsel and merriment. Chanukah can barely keep up even when some in the Jewish community try to hype it up even though it’s not a very important holiday in the Hebrew dogma. And I’m not sure what Kwanzaa is, but I learned about it in elementary school so I guess that must mean something.

But I’m here to talk about the holidays that people can add to their celebration queue no matter what faith you are.

For example, Dec. 5 is the Day of the Ninja. I’m not sure why ninjas only have one day dedicated to them. They should have at least one month. It’s probably for the best too because you never want to make ninjas angry. They are experts in stealth have mastered every style of combat. Plus they can be a very spiteful bunch.

On the Day of the Ninja, all non-ninjas (or nonjas) are encouraged to dress up as a ninja and engage in ninja related activities. This of course fueled the fire for the age old pirate versus ninja conflict as the Day of the Ninja directly counterpoints Talk Like a Pirate Day.

The next holiday is not necessarily a holiday but still a day you need to look out for. The ancient Mayans created a calendar so accurate that it can still be used today. The reason why December 21 is important is because that calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012. So come Dec. 21, let’s count down the years until the potential end of the world.

Dec. 23 is my favorite holiday: Festivus. Festivus was invented by Reader’s Digest editor and writer Dan O’Keefe and made popular by the hit television show “Seinfeld.”

There are specific rituals of Festivus like the Festivus feast and the “Airing of Grievances.” During the “Airing of Grievances,” friends and family will gather together and let each other know how they’ve wronged each other over the past year. This can range from letting your roommate know that the Christmas decorations he set up in the apartment are an eyesore to letting your brother know that sleeping with your girlfriend was outright unacceptable.

Festivus usually ends with the “Feats of Strength.” During the “Feats of Strength,” the head of the household will choose one person to a wrestling match. According to tradition, Festivus is not over until the head of the household is pinned to the ground.

Holidays are about bringing people together. The mainstream holidays are great, but sometimes we need an alternative to spice up the holidays a bit whether it be clinging to ceiling waiting for that perfect stealth kill, rocking back and forth in the shower naked while slowly counting down the minutes to the end of the world, or even taking on your Vietnam veteran father in hand-to-hand combat.