Views from the Outside

The Bright Side Running Club, Written by Josie Lloyd, 2022 Published by Alcove Press I came across this book when searching for a podcast using the words "running" and "cancer".  It was published originally in Great Britain as "The Cancer Ladies Running Club" but inexplicably was renamed on this side of the Pond as "The Bright Side Running Club".  The title makes sense from the text of the book as there are several points in which the "Bright Side" is emphasized while running. It's hard to hate on this book, but I'm going to, but I want to talk about the good parts first.  In the book the main character is a 50-something woman diagnosed with breast cancer.  She quickly falls in with a group of fellow breast cancer survivors who meet every week to run around a park.  The group is appropriately mismatched with the Bold One, the Movie Star, the Brooding One and the main character, who I guess you could call the Boring One. On the p

 In a previous post, I predicted that masks were here to stay. However since then, masks have mostly disappeared. I still see a few people wearing them when out and about, but as of now there is only one place that "requires" them (whether they enforce it or not is another matter) and that's my dermatologist.  That's odd because of all places where I go, they'd be the ones most interested in seeing my skin. I can't exactly remember how it came to be.  I remember that my allergist, who I visit every week for a shot had a sign up saying "Masks still required", the wording of which kind of acknowledges defeat. (Everyone else has dropped the requirement but we still have it).  However, I would routinely go in with no mask and no one would say anything about it.  Then, suddenly the sign was gone.  There was no change in official guidance that I ever heard, they finally just got tired of wearing them, I guess.   It just seems like no one wanted to go first