What does it have in its pocketses, Precious?

After picking up a copy at City Lights Bookstore, Robyn and I have taken turns reading through The Hobbit aloud before the non-reader inevitably drifts off to a sleep filled with dreams of dwarves, trolls, and one barefooted Mr. Bilbo.

While I absolutely cannot wait for the movie to come out, it has been an unparalleled joy to sit with Robyn by my side as we slow down our eyes, absorb with our mind, and let our imaginations run wild.

Because, as spoken word artist Taylor Mali puts it:

Once upon a time, we grew up on stories, 
and the voices in which they were told.

We need words to hold us, 
for the world to behold us, 
for us to truly know our own souls.