Telnet to pmcmoo.org HeadGrowths (#13325) [_chaosmosis_ (#824) ]

HeadGrowths

You know . . . the land where people had things growing out of their head. Instead of hair, difference, impossible, intriguing protrusions grew. Different people grew different things; some people grew things better than others. Some were specially talented at grooming what was growing; others spent most of their time fertilizing the growth. A few were incapable or unwilling to participate in head growths all together, and denounced it or kept to themselves.

Some people grew diamond head growths on crystal stems. A bump would appear under the surface of the scalp, causing a bit of itching, minor hair loss and and overall mild throbbing discomfort. Obviously the size of the diamond was directly proportional to the pain it caused as the bump got bigger, until it broke the surface of the skin. Some said that intense narrow concentration was the only way to produce large diamonds. Others spoke in favor of a more varied approach to produce diamonds with many facets. A few claimed that a string of diamonds on long delicate stems were obtained as the result of a patient but steady focus over time. An unfortunate drawback for the individual, who proved capable of producing outstanding headgrowths of this type, was the tendency for the 'good life' to seduce them into a lifelong endeavor of increasing the size and complexity of their headgrowth. Amid the glamour and clamor associated with a rising star, the fact that head growth is irreversible (some argue that surgery, etc., can remove most visible effects of headgrowth without many detrimental side effects) was largely forgotten. Most museums and libraries had collections of the most spectacular configurations of diamond head growths. These would have and oblong base of tightly interwoven clusters and stems, branching up into one or more main constellations, terminating in small pebble sized 'initial nodes'. One's appreciation might be tainted by the sight of an individual with a well advanced headgrowth gotten so heavy that several attendants must constantly maintain it. The grueling part comes with the surgery required to extricate extremely large growths or clusters. Scaples and tweezers give way to drills and finally to specially designed circular saws and powerful acid solutions. Over enthusiastic extrication could lead to the individuals demise (of course the story of the goose that laid the golden egg is often repeated in the elite private schools of the upper class). Only a few gave the lifetime of concentrated effort required to produce a truly great diamond headgrowth.

Another more popular form of headgrowth looked more like foliage. These growths took a wider path of diversity than their kindred mineral headgrowths. Some low, leafy and covered with colorful blossoms, others erotically branching, bearing sweet fruit, maybe a few that provided comfort from the sun or rain, fine ones that gave off pleasant aromas, and many so transient that their form was forever growing brown and crumbling away then sprouting forth in a transformed way. Pulp literature and popular movies sometimes depicted organic headgrowths gone wild, mutating into horrible purple flowers with strong blood sucking vines or teeth like thorns. A more quiet reality was the hermit whose headgrowth had gotten so advanced that root emerged the the bottom of the feet. Many mountains have quiet groves of huge trees with oddly face like patterns in the bark.

The newest type of headgrowth is of sound, heat and light. To traditionalists these seem almost wasteful, since, although they are exciting during their occurance, they cannot be sustained but for relatively short periods of time, leaving nothing but a memory in the minds of those present. Of course such a memory can act as a seed for a headgrowth of a similar type, yet due to some law about the identity of indiscernibles, no two headgrowths can be exactly the same. If two energy headgrowths were exactly alike in every way, then they happened at exactly the same time and were produced by the same person. They are one and the same headgrowth. Thus no two are exactly alike. Some get extremely agitated at this point and claim loudly, with the accompanying flash of heat and light, that the event is to communicate an energy headgrowth in such a way so it can be exactly reproduced in every detail except for spatio-temporal location and originator of the growth. The alternative point of view would call attention to the relatedness of energy headgrowths with the context in which spatio-temporal surroundings and the perspective o the individual are extremely important parts of a synergistic whole. Nevertheless, it is easier to argue and speculate than give off energy growths, and besides something must be done in those long periods of time required to build up energy for a particularly dazzling display.

is an utterance sometimes heard from the bald individuals.

FW/cvbii 2.1.88