1. In the upper right corner of both my laptop and desktop screens can be found a folder entitled “Residua.” When it is clicked open, its contents spread across the entire screen of both computers. There are sixty-four files and one folder in it. The bulk of them are Word files with Residua yearbooks from 1976 to 2025. The last six files are almost empty, but there are a handful of pieces of writing sketched in them ahead of time. By 2025, my writing project will be half-a-century old. And the Roman numeral that will grace the fiftieth yearbook makes me smile well in advance.

So far, my writings would cover more than eight-thousand pages in any standard format. Finding anything in such a pile of paper would take an enormous effort and much time. But a single folder on my laptop or desktop screen offers all the help I may need in just a few minutes. Have I written anything about any particular subject? If so, what in particular have I written on that subject? And when was it? Any such question finds a surprisingly quick answer. More often than not, I am amazed at the speed with which I deal with all questions of this nature. Given my experience with my writing project, it is a question of minutes at most. My accounting system is of great help in all such cases, too. Whence this note among notes, of course.

2. The most important records of my writing project appear in the bottom row of the Residua folder. The Word file entitled “Directory” contains the titles and dates of every single piece of writing and addendum penned since 1976. At the moment, it counts four-hundred and seventy-five pages. Right next to it is an Excel file entitled “Statistics.” For each year, it lists the number of pieces written, the number of addenda written that year, the number of addenda added in later years, and the number of words in the yearbook. To the right of the table are sums for each year, and at the bottom of the table there are sums of all items for all years. As of today, there are a few more than eighteen-thousands pieces, four-thousand and five-hundred addenda extending them, and nearly four-million words. Next to it is another Excel file entitled “Addenda - Table.” It is the current version of a triangular matrix first reported in 1983 and last extended in 2014 (“Production of Residua by Means of Residua,” May 7, 1983). It shows the interlacing of my writings by means of addenda. Next to it is another Word file entitled “Citata.” It lists every piece of writing and the date it was written together with all the previous pieces of writing and their dates cited in that piece. At the moment, there are one-thousand and seven-hundred citata listed. Next to this file is yet another Excel file entitled “Citata - Table” showing the interlacing of my writings by means of citata across the years.

3. There are several supplementary files, too. An Excel file entitled “Fallow Days” contains my five-year plan devised to curb my writing urge (“My Five-Year Plan,” December 29, 2016). For each year from 2016 to 2020, it lists the dates when not a single word will be written. I update the file from time to time, and I do my best to increase the number of fallow days whenever possible. Also, there are Word files entitled “Citata to Promote” and “Distribution.” The first one lists all the pieces that need to be cited in the years to come (“Citata to Promote,” January 15, 2019). I update the list from time to time to ensure that my magnum opus is properly covered in the years to come. The second file lists all the people who have either received or purchased my books of selections from my Residua over the years. I do not keep the total number, but there are thousands of them by now.

Among the remaining files there are a couple more worth mentioning. Both of them are in Word. The first one is entitled “Thematic Directory.” It contains many items, but the one that is especially dear to me as of late lists all the dedications to date (“Dedications Galore,” October 10, 2018). Another is entitled “Connections,” and it concerns my many love affairs of times past (“Connections,” November 7, 2002). This file records connections between particular pieces of writing and names of those behind them. My memory would have failed me long ago without such an aid.

4. As was already mentioned, the Residua folder also contains another folder, which is entitled “Selections.” It contains the current versions of fifteen books compiled to date. Each of them consists of pieces of writing on a particular theme arranged in chronological order. It also contains selections of pieces that have appeared over the years in various journals, the majority of which are dedicated to art. Most of the books are updated every once in a while, and so is the last one entitled “Residua: Directory,” which will appear in a few years’ time (“Residua: Directory,” January 13, 2017). All the other books are already available for free on my Ca’ Bon Gallery website (www.cabongallery.org). In Portable Document Format, they can easily be printed out in any xerox store for those who do not like to read from the screen. The printing costs as much as a reasonably-priced book.

5. Returning to my records, I update them each and every time I add a new piece or addendum to my writings. And I regularly compare all the key figures among the key Excel files. The “Statistics” file is crucial in my struggle with the writing urge, which I am curtailing with all my might (see, e.g., “Omni dies sine linea,” January 6, 2012; “Fallow Day,” January 27, 2016; and “The Word Count,” June 24, 2019). And I hope that my Residua will never reach four-million words. Without my accounting system, I would have no idea how my writing project is progressing. The “Directory” is also essential to me because of my resolution never to use the same title twice. Given the age and size of my writing project, this is far from a trivial task.

All things considered, my accounting system is no less than formidable. With so many words behind me over so many years, there is no other way to remain in touch with myself than by keeping meticulous records. Besides, the World Wide Web is of great help in this endeavor. Whenever I am eager to find something or other in my writings, I go to the Residua website. Whatever comes to my mind pops up after a quick search. On occasion, such searches also help me improve my records. Although I am not a great fan of information technology, or any other technology that marks this epoch, I must admit that my site offers me an unbeatable mirror that goes all the way to my youth. With some luck, this mirror will be with me till my last breath. Say, a decade or maybe two (“The Seven-Year Life Cycle, Again,” March 13, 2016). The mother of all mirrors, too.