Yahoo! Answers

Hey Guys,

Some folks celebrate Christmas, others celebrate Hanukkah. Some people participate in Diwali, while others celebrate Kwanzaa. And still others, the rare few, celebrate what may be the greatest of all holidays–Festivus.

Over the past several days, I’ve noticed an increasing number of questions about Festivus within Yahoo! Answers. One community member wants to know how long he should leave up his Festivus Pole after the holiday. Another wants to know when the actual day is (is it always December 23?). I went looking for answers.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Festivus is a largely made-up holiday made famous during a Seinfeld episode. George Costanza’s father, the founder of Festivus, explained that it is a nondenominational holiday that involves a metal pole (instead of a Christmas tree) and the airing of grievances (instead of gift giving). After the episode aired, the holiday took on a life of its own. People started to celebrate it and various fan sites sprouted up on the Web.

I consulted a few of these alarmingly thorough sites and put together a list of the basics for anyone who wishes to get into the Festivus spirit…

1. Festivus is always celebrated on December 23rd.

2. No gifts are required, but if you do decide to exchange presents, remember to “give only something you don’t want and that you expect the recipient doesn’t want either.”

3. The airing of grievances should occur before the feats of strength. It is believed that the yelling will inspire all participants to do more impressive physical activity.

4. The event continues until the head of the family is wrestled to the floor and pinned. Until that happens, Festivus can go on indefinitely.

I got most of these hints from the official Festivus site, but there are a slew of other sites out there, including this one that sells official Festivus poles. Yes, really.

So, that’s one holiday tradition. What about you guys? Do you have any interesting traditions or rituals that you and your family partake in around the holidays? The ceremonial thawing of the freezer? The mandatory wearing of ugly sweaters? Leave a comment below and happy holidays.

Thanks for reading,

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Photo by Joe Shlabotnik
This is the time of year when the weather outside drops dramatically and my apartment heats up like Calcutta in July. My landlord controls the heat in my building and he likes it hot. Blazing hot. Downright sweltering, to tell the truth. I’ve talked to him a number of times about it and he says he’s turned it down as low as it will go, but it can still get pretty unbearable. I frequently leave the windows open, but the combination of heat and cold is really hard on my sinuses-I wake completely parched and feel withered like a raisin in the sun.

Someone suggested that I buy a humidifier, so I went to my local Bed Bath & Beyond and was completely overwhelmed by the selection and range. Do I want a dehumidifier or a humidifier? Cold air or warm? Does it need to be an antibacterial model? Do I really need to blow $400 on one, or is the $29.99 model shaped like a frog adequate for my needs? I obviously needed Answers to help me sort this out.

Fortunately, I’m not alone in my confusion. As Mista Ricksta points out, the combination of heat with the winter air makes for an especially dry environment, so it’s helpful to add moisture into the air (humidify, rather than dehumidify). Easy enough. That’s one question answered.

Now I have to decide whether to go for a cold-air or warm-air model. This seems to be a matter of preference, although a number of people have suggested that the warm-air models are more effective at actually humidifying the air. The main downside, however, seems to be their habit of breeding bacteria. You can purchase antibacterial models, although these tend to be much pricier. Luckily, there are methods and products to help keep this problem in check without having to plop down the extra cash for a fancier unit.

That’s definitely a good start-at least I have a basic understanding of the options. Is there anything else you can add to the humidifier debate?

What helps get you through these dry winter nights?

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Hello, everyone-

Yahoo! Answers will be down on Thursday, December 18, starting at 1:00 a.m. PST and will last a few hours. Answers will be unavailable during that time. If there is any change to the schedule, we will inform you here with updates.

If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not check out some of these pages:

• Discover our Winter Holiday Traditions page
• Find out what the buzz is all about
• Get your game on at Yahoo! Games
• Watch some cool free videos
• Join a group
• Read about parenting, healthy living, or fashion and beauty on Shine
• Plan a winter getaway
• Shop for holiday gifts

 **UPDATE: The outage is now over. Many thanks for your patience on this! **

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Hey Guys,

So, there I am, minding my own business. When all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a crazy-eyed lunatic starts chasing me through a field. I try to run, but my feet feel like they’re in quicksand. I turn around and the maniac is getting closer and closer…and then I wake up. I’ve been having that same nightmare for as long as I can remember, but I’m not alone when it comes to recurring bad dreams. Blah asked what she can do to stop hers, so I drank some caffeine and went looking for an answer.

Despite his having caused several of my more vivid nightmares, I visited Dr. Phil’s official site first. Oprah’s guru offers some tips on how to stop recurring nightmares. One of the more interesting tips is to talk about the nightmare with somebody you trust before you go to sleep. Talk about it in detail, act out the various parts of the nightmare, and give the nightmare a happy ending. It sounds silly, but apparently it helps because getting “every neurological loop involved can help finish the business.”

WebMD offers similar advice, suggesting that anyone suffering from recurring nightmares should “create a happier ending.” Before going to sleep, picture “what outcome you would like to have happen. Picture the recurring dream and realistically picture another outcome.” Remind yourself over and over when you’re going to sleep about what you want to happen in the dream. If that doesn’t work, WebMD suggests that a therapist may be able to help.

There is another possibility–lucid dreaming. This is when people are able to realize they are dreaming and control what happens in the dream. Sounds pretty good, but according to HowStuffWorks, this is a skill that very few people have. “It is estimated that fewer than 100,000 people in the United States have the ability to have lucid dreams.”

There doesn’t seem to be an easy answer, but talking about the nightmares tends to help. And, for what it’s worth, humans aren’t the only species to have bad dreams. According to WebMD, gorillas seem to have nightmares. One can only imagine what scares them…

Thanks for reading,

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Photo by Carey Tilden
This week Yahoo! Answers is celebrating its third birthday. We invite you to join in on the celebration by offering you this e-book (PDF) highlighting our favorite questions and answers from 2008. Please feel free to share it with your family and friends.

Last year we asked all of you how Answers has impacted your life. This year, we’d like to know what the most useful advice was that you received this year from the Answers community.

Answers now has over 132 million users worldwide and over 750 million answers to questions. Wow! Thanks to all of you for your great contributions. Happy Birthday, Yahoo! Answers!

NOTE: Sorry, the e-book link is working now!

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