the halfway mark

Hi everyone-

June marks the one-year anniversary for us coming to Swaziland; the halfway point of our PC service. So all 30 of us remaining “group 6” PCVs will be congregating for a weeklong, mid-service conference to talk about… stuff… and to learn about… things. I don’t really know what we’ll be doing. Wait—I know a few things: the annual medical exams are on the agenda. Oh joy. If you’ve ever wished your life consisted of more shots and vaccinations, you should seriously consider PC Service. Also, Jamie and I will be doing a short workshop outlining to other PCVS that singing competition (what went into planning/executing it), so I’m sure other PCVs will be doing similar programming workshops.

I guess that’ll be interesting, but mostly I’m looking forward to two things: a week of meat for dinner, and a week spent hanging out with our fellow PCVs. We haven’t seen many of them for months and we really miss them. They’re a great group of people and having a week together is gonna be great. The exchange of ideas and news and approaches (and music and movies and books) makes the mid-service conference valuable, regardless of what’s formally planned.

Lastly, I (Tim) would like to request some books that I’ve been unable to find here. It’s a very strange listing coming from me, as you’ll see, not my usual line of interest. But they’re great examples of certain storytelling techniques and archetypes found in modern horror/fantasy and American Gothic novels… and I want schooling in that dept. This is actually a listing of genre-classics compiled by Stephen King in his excellent and detailed study of the form, Dance Macabre. Anyway, here’s the list—cheap old paperbacks are what I’m wanting, any condition, the lighter the better:

Ghost Story by Peter Straub (1970s)
The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons (1978)
Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)
Rosemary’s Baby and A Kiss Before Dying both by Ira Levins (1960s)
The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955)
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (1962)
The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (1956)
The Doll Who Ate its Mother and Parasite both by Ramsay Cambell (1970s)
The Fog by James Herbert (1975)
Stange Wine (story collection) by Harlan Ellison (1978)
The Shining and Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

If forced to narrow this list, I guess I’d pick the books by Bradbury, Ellison, Jackson, James, and Finney… but any and/or all of these titles will be much appreciated!