My Gap-Toothed Woman

Before I fell in love with Janna, I fell in love with her smile.
It's wider than I-80 and brighter than December's glistened snow. Her most dominating feature instantly melts your heart strings.
Squarely nestled in Janna's heart-breaking smile is her GAP.  The two millimeter gap resides right smack between her two front teeth.
I've seldom paid attention to Janna's gap. About five years ago our son, David, introduced his mother to one of his friends. The new acquaintance blurted out, "I love your gap. Do you like mine?" A casual 5-minute conversation between two gappers then ensued.
Janna once mentioned to her friend Beans, "I think I'll get my gap filled." Beans quickly countered, "You better not. It's you."
Being the ever-caring provider, I once broached the subject and suggested she ask our dentist the cost to fill that itsy-bitsy gap.
When the drill and fill specialist told Janna it would run $3,000 to fix her midline diastema, we jointly decided the gap stays.
A few weeks ago Janna stumbled across a D-News article proclaiming the glories of gaps.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700075321/Gaptoothed-women-are-in-vogue.html
The headline reads "Gap-tooth women are in vogue."  Not only do Lauren Hutton, Madonna, Natalie Cole and Condoleezza Rice sport gaps, Chanel now features gap-toothed women in their glossy ads.
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the head strong Wife of Bath's gap symbolizes sensuality and lust. The author writes of her physical appearance describing her clothes, legs, feet, hips, and most importantly her gap-tooth.
Geee, I must have dozed off when Mrs. Argus was teaching that little Canterbury tidbit. http://www.librarius.com/canttran/wftltrfs.htm
Last week our daughter-in-law Jana called all bubbly. "Guess what? Marlee's two front teeth are coming in and she has a gap!"
Hopefully when the permanent teeth arrive on the scene Marlee will still sport a gap - just like her Nana Janna.

Peace, love and all that Jazz, Charlie

P.S. For hard-core lovers of gap-toothed women, here's a 3 1/2 minute documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BilnXlqQy6w

Jake's Jazz Journeys

Jake

So what's more unlikely?
A) The Jazz crawling out of a 22-point trench only to defeat what may develop into the best team in NBA history or
B) Our firstborn, Jake, watching the two most thrilling Jazz regular season wins live and in person - even though they were played two time zones and two decades apart?
Jake lives in Davie, Florida, about 30 minutes north of the star-studded Miami Heat. His bro, Steve, took advantage of his SkyWest benefits and the two of them attended Tuesday's gasping Jazz overtime win over the Labronites. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCiHOpNJXnc

They may have been the only two who left the arena in ecstacy. "After the game we saw one guy with a Karl Malone jersey, but that was it," Jake says of the Jazz fan base in Miami.
As a 14-year old Jake watched the 1992 Jazz triple overtime win over the Michael Jordan crew. That summer his dad dangled this carrot (translate 'bribe'):"You earn your reading merit badge, and I'll make sure you get a ticket to the Bulls-Jazz game."

Steve (in a Pistons jersey)



I forked out 3x face value from a scroungy scalper to meet my fatherly obligations. Jake attended that game by his little lonesome as his family listened to Hot Rod in the family van. Michael threw a tizzy and got ejected as the Jazz sealed the deal in the final .4 second.
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-02-04/sports/sp-1178_1_chicago-bulls Jake leaned more toward the Bulls in those days, but has since modified his loyalties.

Peace, love and all that Jazz,
Charlie

Tribute to Rod Marrelli

I struggle when I lose friends. I still miss David White's chuckle, Rosan Davies' smile and Lloyd Jackson's patience. They all exited this frail existence way too early.

Last week, the 750 employees of the Tax Commission (and countless others) lost a great friend with the passing of Rod Marrelli, our executive director.

For the past three years Rod valiantly fought cancer and all its demons. He battled in a dignified manner, with a grateful heart and cheerful attitude.

I admire Rod for a number of reasons, including the fact that his integrity was beyond reproach. I sat on the sidelines in countless meetings for the past five years with Rod. Never once did he even sniff the lightest gray area of an ethical breach. Integrity flowed throughout his blood stream. 

Over the years I've known several people who exemplified dilgence in the workplace. None worked harder or smarter than Rod. Business was business and play was something you might get to later - as long as work was done and done right. 

At Thursday's funeral his son, Jon, mentioned that whenever Rod left a job, it took two people to fill it. Although that comment brought a unified chuckle throughout the chapel, I tend to believe it.

His leadership style was simple and straightforward: ask tough questions, get all the facts, listen to those you trust, consider all the pros and cons, make a decision and then take action. 

Rod must have co-authored "Sweat the small stuff." He would fret over details like a mother bear over a cub who had wandered away.

Personally, I'll miss Rod's wry sense of humor and the selfless personal service he graciously rendered daily.

Peace, love and all that Jazz,

Charlie

Here's a link to a letter to the editor in Thursday's Salt Lake Tribune from former Gov. Leavitt:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/50587989-82/rod-state-tax-utah.html.csp

and here's a link to the Tax Commission news release http://tax.utah.gov/news/2010-11-01.pdf