I mentioned that I brought back a package of Newman-Os and The Da Vinci Code; they were both presents for G-man. I thought that The Da Vinci Code was some religious book along the lines of The Purpose-driven Life -- thoughtfully left at Appalachian Trail shelters throughout at least Virginia, and which I was never bored enough to even skim through -- but people on the trail said no, it's this cool murder mystery with all this neat historical stuff, including a bunch of Holy Grail stuff. Well, that sounds interesting. And next week Greg, Mister Mythology, Mister Arthurian Shit, will be at a mythology conference in Atlanta, so if everybody is talking about this book, which evidently they are, it would be a good idea for him to read it before he goes. So I bought a copy and gave it to him with the cookies, which he finally opened after I broke down and asked if he was ever planning to, even though I gave him the package for him to eat and only hoping he might share, which he did, mmm so good. But back to the book, though damn, those cookies hit the spot. Last year on the trail everyone was talking about Cold Mountain -- the trail goes right over it -- so I bought that, too, and read it and didn't think it was very good. Then the movie came out and I saw that and didn't think it was very good, then I hiked over the damn thing this year and well, just another Virginia mountain. Nothing fun like Albert Mountain or Unaka or Mt. Rogers. So I guess you could say I didn't think the actual mountain was very good, either.

G is finishing The Da Vinci Code as I type, and the report is ... not encouraging. I'll read it myself, but I'm beginning to think that if a book makes it on to the NYTimes Best Seller list it may be an indication to stay away. I mean, jesus, have you looked at it lately?