Every website sports a list of key words or phrases. This is what search engines look for before delving deeper into the meat of the site. Although the search process is a bit of a mystery even to the most ardent denizens of the World Wide Web, these words or phrases are indispensable. My Residua site is no different. And here is my list as it stands on this very day:

Ranko Bon, Motovun, Montona, Cave Art, Abstract Art, Entoptic Forms, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Malevich, Bon Yoga, Bon Buddhism, The Economist, Zen, 1968, Marx, Hegel, Postcards, Venice, Altered States of Consciousness, Shamanism, Tantra, Adorno, MIT, Belgrade, Sufism, Mysticism.

At first blush, there are few surprises here for those who know me. As always, the key is in the connections between these many words and phrases. The only problem is that it takes almost two-million words to discover all the connections in my writings, and the number of words is growing by the day. But do not despair, dear reader. With a little bit of luck, you may solve the mystery even before I do.

Addendum I (December 10, 2014)

From time to time, I think about this list of key words or phrases, which has not been changed for more than six years now. Some strike me as outdated. For instance, my letters to the editor of The Economist are history by now. Adorno is ever farther from my heart, as well. And altered states of consciousness have not been on my mind for several years in a row. Similarly, some new key words or phrases beckon every now and then. Climate change comes to mind at once. Zagreb would be a welcome addition to the list, as well. And so would be Proust. But I am not even close to deciding on any of these changes. Every time I try to nudge myself in that direction, I recoil at once in fear bordering on panic. Why rush? How to be sure of any changes? In short, chances are that the current list will keep going for many more years. This is an important decision that will take a while longer to come to fruition. Besides, now I have nearly three-million words to think about. Dear reader, are you still there?

Addendum II (January 18, 2016)

Even though I am still loath of touching the existing list, new key words and phrases keep popping up in my mind. Enlightenment is one of them, and it is increasingly closer to my heart. Patanjali is conspicuous by his absence. And so is Nietzsche. The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night is most important to me, but its title strikes me as too long for comfort. Lovelock needs to be added to the list, as well. Concerning the existing list, I would like to replace abstract art with geometric art, which is much closer to what I have actually dealt with. As I said in the first addendum, altered states of conscience are out of place on the list. And so on, and so forth. Alas, chances are that the number of addenda to this piece will grow and grow, but the list itself will remain untouched for quite a while. Silly old me.

Addendum III (March 29, 2017)

The list of key words or phrases for my Residua website crosses my mind more often than I would expect, let alone wish, but I am unwilling to do a thing about it to this day. Let it wait. It will take me a few more years to make up my mind on the final list, I reckon. One way or another, there is nothing pressing about this particular chore, anyhow. Still, how would the list look were I to nail it down on this very day? Although I am a tad uncomfortable with this exercise, which strikes me as futile at best, here is today’s list in its entirety:

Ranko Bon, Motovun, Montona, Cave Art, Geometric Art, Entoptic Forms, Shamanism, David Lewis-Williams, 1797, Montaigne, Pascal, Proust, Freedom of Expression, Bon Buddhism, Bon Yoga, Primitive Communism, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Malevich, 1204, Human Stupidity, Survival, Taoism, Zen, Sufism, 1968, Space Colonization, Posthistory, Tacitus, Seneca, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Adorno, Baby Boom, 2001, Climate Change, James Lovelock, 828, Venice, Istria, Mediterranean, 1453, Tilopa, Foolproof Subversion, Aesop, Homer, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Borges, Zagreb, Belgrade, Harvard, MIT, Patanjali, Enlightenment, Haiku, Issa, Strasbourg, Disaster Management.

There. One more time, I will give it a few more years, by which time my magnum opus will settle down, as it were. Most important, I hope that the number of key words or phrases will dwindle over time. There are sixty of them on this list, whereas the original one has only twenty-six. More than about thirty of them would be unwise, I guess. Not for nothing are they called key words or phrases. Key is the word. The above profusion is not only unwise, but also outright reckless. Still, putting more than forty years of uninterrupted writing into a straightforward list of words or phrases remains a challenge to behold. I am not complaining, though. The challenge is right up my alley.