As I walked through The Home Depot last Saturday shopping for my father’s birthday gift, it was hard not to notice the Christmas display that was set up at the front of the store. Of course, the thought of celebrating Christmas with my family came to mind, but I realized it was the beginning of November.

Unfortunate as it is, Christmas is a mere 43 days away, which means that for almost a month and a half, we have to sit in our dorms and apartments and wait for the most beloved holiday of the year. With that amount of time, what kind of fun activities can we do in between now and Christmas?

There is Thanksgiving, which essentially gives everyone a good reason to eat until exhaustion. There is also Christmas shopping, decorating, caroling, baking, etc. Essentially, the next month and a half is sold to celebrating Christmas. What about other holidays that people seem to overlook?

While researching holiday history, I happened to stumble upon an interesting Web site dealing with uncelebrated holidays.

Brownielocks.com is a Web site that lists random holidays to celebrate, even if it is random and unnecessary. The site comes with a full 12-month calendar with lists of random holidays that apparently occur every day. It even provides the 2010 calendar along with the moon phases for the future.

It is simple childish and yet, in my opinion, it is a great way for college students to relieve stress.

As college students winding down the semester with projects and papers and trying to give our GPA a last-minute boost for scholarships, finding a way to relieve stress, is crucial for trying to function. Sure, hanging out with friends is a great way to do that, but why not take it a step further and try something new? Students who try random holidays will have fun doing it while posting their photo albums on Facebook.

There is a problem with discovering a site like this so late in the year however. There are so many random and pointless holidays that went uncelebrated this year, it is almost heartbreaking. Thankfully, though, 2010 is right around the corner, so if you truly are going to jump on board with this notion, you can start out fresh and celebrate something every day.

So, with today being Nov. 12, what holidays can we celebrate for the rest of the year?

Plenty of fantastic holidays, outside of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s of course.

If you’re looking for days to try to feel happy and build friendships, you might want to look into World Kindness Day, which is tomorrow. There are also other fantastic holidays, such as Television Day, Children’s Day, Name Your PC Day, and my personal favorite, Stay Home Because You’re Well Day. All of these, by the way, are celebrated in the month of November.

So what is the point of this? With the end of the year rolling around, we put so much emphasis on Christmas that we barely realize the small things that happen around us. Of course, celebrating random holidays is a radical way to cut down the time Christmas has taken over, but doing the little things with your friends and family, such as playing games, helping around the house or helping the community, are great as well. Even the little actions count, such as talking to someone who is upset, or taking five seconds to help someone else. The Christmas season can wait another couple weeks; let’s find something better to do with our time till after Thanksgiving.

Eddie Kilroy is a sophomore communication studies major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected]