Just pop Tom Waits' "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis" on the turntable, and you're good to go-

IT can’t be an accident that our official season of culturally-enforced merriment overlaps with the onset of seasonal depression as well as the butt-end of our calendar year — a time when people feel compelled to look back and survey the peaks (if you’re lucky) and valleys (far too plentiful) receding into the landscape behind them. As we note from the proliferation of “Notable Deaths of 2015” articles, marking the passage of time is an inherently moribund act, and thus greatly improved by the presence of friends, alcohol, and nicely decorated cookies. 

For those quiet moments between revelries, however, most of us could benefit from a cool-headed primer on the perfectly practical subject of mortality, demystifying the inevitable so we don’t Ghost-of-Christmas-Future ourselves into a lather of existential meringue. It can also be considered an exercise in altruism: if we don’t confront our own worst fears, how can we possibly lend support to loved ones working through theirs? 

First let’s begin with some exposure therapy like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach’s award-winning catalog of odd historic uses for the deceased. (For our purposes, you are welcome to skip the chapter on being buried alive.)...

For more on contemplations of seasonal death, click here.