The burs: In the caverns above the mouth area there are several spiky burs; when Kurelek was young he had the sensation that these were stuffing up his throat. One has been dissected, cutting through many layers, only to find a worm in the center. This was a reference to the doctors' effort of analysis and diagnosis turning out to be "not worth the trouble." Another of the burs is inverted with spikes pointed inward, piercing through a small child. On either side of the bur is a smiling face and an angry face, representing two sides to Kurelek's father. His father is referenced as another bur behind, "the hard domineering blue bur, opening up the mushy yellow bur, my mother, to release a common lot of burs, my brothers and sisters, and one unique orange one - myself."