if 6 was 9

Issipapa Justin is sad that Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead in his hotel room in Portland, Ore., this week.

Though Jimi Hendrix died nine years prior to my birth, the music of the Experience reminds me of being a teenager. It's very much young people music: "I have only one burning desire: let me stand next to your fire" and "manic depression has captured my soul: I know what I want but I really don't know how to go about getting it: music, sweet music, I wish I could caress and kiss: manic depression is a frustrating mess."

One JHE tune was called "If six was nine." It's on the Axis: Bold as Love album as well as the Easy Rider soundtrack. It's very relevant because Marta has still to sort her numbers out. She easily grasps the recognizable ones -- she can go from one to five without missing a beat. But she sees six and it sort of reminds her of nine. I tell her that with nine, the circle is on the top, but with six, it's on the bottom. But she is still making this mistake.

Marta has also had trouble with p's and b's and d's. She seems slightly dyslexic ... or something. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what dyslexia is actually like. I know Tom Cruise has it; which may explain why the two of them are so excitable and dramatic. I just know that Marta reverses numbers and has a hard time digesting that "bread" and "dread" are not the same word, though they look pretty similar.

Marta has, however, mastered her name. She can spell her own name, Anna's name, and Epp's name easily. She is making her "J"s backwards though, so my name looks like "Gustin." Marta drew a picture of me in her kindergarten. I was the only daddy drawn by the kids who had a crown and a staff: On top was written "G U S," in the middle was a "t," and at the bottom was an "N." That's me, "King Gustin." It wasn't completely in reverence of me, though. You see, if Issipapa Justin is a king, that means that Marta is a princess.

My approach to handling the six and nine issue will be to keep showing her the numbers, making her write them herself, and maybe trying to do some rudimentary math so that she understands that the symbols actually represent something. And, in the meantime, here is the "If 6 was 9" clip from Easy Rider, for your enjoyment.