(listed in descending order by publication date)
Mark’s Tennis Lesson – 4.4.2024
(click the title to see the video) Karen thinks that Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is the right music for this video. Video with Copland Karen came along for my weekly tennis lesson on Thursday, 4.4.2024. She took some photos and video. I boiled… Continue reading Mark’s Tennis Lesson – 4.4.2024
Published: April 6, 2024
6/11/2021 – Ninth Anniversary – $1 million raised for UThisMe, LLC.
6/11/2012 – a meeting was held with a key investor in UThisMe, LLC. The new business plan, written by Mark, was presented. A $1 million investment followed. Mark has been continuously involved as a consultant in many roles since.
Published: June 11, 2021
Pandemic Zoom Meetings since March 23, 2020
Zoom meetings hosted by us to date: (we attended others hosted by others) Sun, May 3 05:30 PM – David, Ellen, Ian, Cynthia….. Sun, May 3 12:30 PM – OLD Family chat Sat, May 2 06:30 PM – Chat, drinks,etc. with ted and Anne Sat, May 2 04:00 PM – Mark an… Continue reading Pandemic Zoom Meetings since March 23, 2020
Published: May 5, 2020
RiversideBusinessCoach.com mothballed
As of 1/20/2020 RiversideBusinessCoach.com is being decommissioned. An archive of the site is here: http://rbc.markorton.com/ (opens in a new window)
Published: February 3, 2020
Riverside Business Coach – my favorite blog entries and other tidbits….
1/21/2020 I haven’t written anything new for the RBC website since 2017. Yesterday I announced on the site that the business is closing down. This led me back to the site and a viewing of many of the blog articles I wrote over the years. Here are some… Continue reading Riverside Business Coach – my favorite blog entries and other tidbits….
Published: January 21, 2020
MMO Job History
Carpenter – Ernie Pierce Contracting – summer job – Lunenburg MA – 1964 Factory hand – part time during college – Appleton WI – 1966-68 Track gang – Soo RR – Appleton WI – Summer 1968 Spray Painter – Webb-Norfolk Conveyor, Cohasset MA – Summer 1969 Hig… Continue reading MMO Job History
Published: June 18, 2019
Me and Religion – an essay
In recent years I have become much more forward and public in expressing my dislike and distrust of organized religion. This occasionally leads to some uncomfortable exchanges with people I meet. But, organized religion is a force that must be dealt with.
Published: April 14, 2019
New Hudson Area Library – from old to new – the movie
A movie assembled from still photos covering the period 2012-2016.
Published: March 25, 2019
Business Cards – a history
I’ve had a lot of business cards over the years.
Published: March 25, 2019
70th Birthday Greetings – an exchange with Jonathan
An exchange of emails on Mark’s 70th birthday.
Published: October 15, 2017
Transforming Libraries – an essay
An essay about how and why libraries have survived and flourished.
Published: August 24, 2017
AmericanDelusions
All of my recent work in the area of history, economics, politics, sociology, and the like are to be found at AmericanDelusions.com
Published: July 23, 2017
Concrete Dumping – more than a local Hudson nuisance
Posted on May 4, 2017 on CurrentMatters Thanks to GossipsOfRivertown for the image . Carole Osterink reported in her post “Unbelievable” on May 3rd about the dumping of waste concrete by F.H.Stickles Concrete on a site off north 2nd Street adjacent to… Continue reading Concrete Dumping – more than a local Hudson nuisance
Published: May 3, 2017
Taft School 1964 – Recital
My project for the Fall of 1964 was to present a music recital. Half was solo horn work and the other half chamber music.
Published: December 2, 2015
HAL Outreach and Fundraisers for Capital Campaign 2014
River cruise 7/12/2014 – Joe and Lynn Keenan, Betsy Miller Street fair on Columbia St. 8/23/2014 Chili Contest at river front park. David Murphy 10/11/2014
Published: December 31, 2014
Taft School 1965 – Rise to Power of Stalin and Khruschev
In my second Independent Studies Program session, over the Winter of 1965, I worked on a paper that came to be titled, “The Rise to Power of Stalin and Khrushchev: the role of the party”.
Published: December 8, 2014
Remnants of machinist days
Here are some measurement and other tools from my days as a machinist. For a while I painted a red mark on them to make it easier to retrieve them from other machinists who had borrowed them.
Published: August 4, 2014
Visiting Libraries in the West – California and Arizona – 2/2013
As the President of the Board of Trustees of the Hudson Area Library, I have been very involved over the past year with the design of a new library to be built in the Armory (State and Fifth Sts.) here in Hudson. This has lead me to be very interested… Continue reading Visiting Libraries in the West – California and Arizona – 2/2013
Published: March 4, 2013
Are We Over Taxed, Over Defended, Bamboozled by the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Presidential Complex?
Americans feel that government at all levels is sucking the life blood out of them through taxes and regulations. Lets just talk about the tax part of this perception. What are the facts of the tax burdens on Americans? – an essay from 2010.
Published: September 14, 2010
Mark attends Board of Trustees Hudson Area Library meeting – beginning of long engagement
August 2009
Published: August 22, 2009
30th Wedding Anniversary Letter to Children
A letter from 6/20/2007 to the kids about marriage and life.
Published: June 20, 2007
Valuedge, Inc. 1999 – 2004
During 1994-5 Sherry Gordon and I worked on a supplier assessment tool as part of our NESI (New England Suppliers Institute) work. With the help of John Martin of the consulting firm Chadwick, Martin & Bailey we developed an organizational assessme… Continue reading Valuedge, Inc. 1999 – 2004
Published: October 19, 2004
A Fog of War or a Fog of Ethics?
Through our friend Esther Hanig we attended a showing of Errol Morris’s new documentary, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara. at the Kennedy Library in Dorchester on December 14, 2003. This documentary is an extended adve… Continue reading A Fog of War or a Fog of Ethics?
Published: December 18, 2003
BLOG MANUFACTURING NOTES
Monday 7/21/03: I have begun the second half of the 2003 YIP Project using some new software, NoteTaker (1.5.4 from Aquaminds) I actually began using this application to help organize all of the materials, projects, and wanderings on my laptop. I notic… Continue reading BLOG MANUFACTURING NOTES
Published: July 21, 2003
6/29/2003 – 5K race and Shulman brunch
Sunday The New Charles River 5K and 5 mile race. The guy to my left appears to be running. In fact, he is a race walker. I kept pace with him for the first mile. By the three mile marker, I couldn’t see him. He finished 3 minutes ahead of me. That’s me… Continue reading 6/29/2003 – 5K race and Shulman brunch
Published: June 29, 2003
Year In Pictures – May 2003
Thursday May 1, 2003 Work on a proposal with Boeing. Saturday May 3, 2003 I ran a 5K race along the Charles, The First Annual Asthma Fund Raiser at MGH, part of World Asthma Day. Here I am in the T-shirt from the last race (December 3, 2000) I ran in b… Continue reading Year In Pictures – May 2003
Published: June 3, 2003
Year In Pictures – February 2003
Saturday February 8, 2003 Back on SATURDAY 02/28/03 I started the YIP Project. Snow on spiral stairs. Forecast 4-6 inches. More than 12 arrived. But, very fluffy. This began as a picture-centric project with just captions below. As explained elsewhere,… Continue reading Year In Pictures – February 2003
Published: March 30, 2003
3/25/2003 – CyberArts Presentation and Resources
March 2003 – Presentation Announcement I will be presenting two Flash movies of artists’ books and a brief technical discussion on Wednesday April 30, 2003. Time and location details below. I have been interested for some time now in how to make artist… Continue reading 3/25/2003 – CyberArts Presentation and Resources
Published: March 26, 2003
What is the Year-In-Pictures Project?
I have been troubled for most of my life by an almost comprehensive lack of memories of the day-to-day events in my life. So, this year I started with the notion that I would keep a diary, rudimentary to be sure, in which I would note significant event… Continue reading What is the Year-In-Pictures Project?
Published: February 5, 2003
Forensics – the movie 2002
See 3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie for a more complete treatment. Director on knees begging me to say my line correctly. BU movie project view from BU dormitory where movie shooting was done BU movie project view from BU dormitor… Continue reading Forensics – the movie 2002
Published: December 1, 2002
6/2/2002 – Greenland and Global Warming
an essay from the original markorton.com website: Greenland and Global Warming When I looked down into the Grand Canyon for the first time, I paused only for a moment at its immensity and moved right onto a more self-centered thought, “How tiny human h… Continue reading 6/2/2002 – Greenland and Global Warming
Published: June 2, 2002
3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie
Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie March 19, 2002 A couple of weeks ago Miriam Goodman emailed me about a possible role in a student movie. I got in touch with Tova Goodman(link added in 2019), a student at Boston University, who let me know that they were lo… Continue reading 3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie
Published: March 19, 2002
02122002 – Short Words
Short Words “Short words” (stolen from the Economist Style Guide (021202) Use them. They are often Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin in origin. They are easy to spell and easy to understand. Thus prefer about to approximately, after to following, let to pe… Continue reading 02122002 – Short Words
Published: February 24, 2002
Enron, Trust and Malfeasance
January 23, 2002 (revised 1/29/02) The collapse of energy giant Enron over the last six months has produced a surprising level of outrage especially for a cynic like me. As this drama continues to unfold, I have been trying to understand how Enron stru… Continue reading Enron, Trust and Malfeasance
Published: January 29, 2002
1/23/2002 – Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance
Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance The collapse of energy giant Enron over the last six months has produced a surprising level of outrage especially for a cynic like me. As this drama continues to unfold, I have been trying to understand how Enron structure… Continue reading 1/23/2002 – Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance
Published: January 26, 2002
1/24/2002 – Long Live Marmite
“Long Live Marmite! Only the British Could Love It” from the New York Times January 24, 2002: from a page A4 article “Burton-on-Trent Journal: Long Live Marmite! Only the British Could Love It” “Being British, the company has had an appreciation of the… Continue reading 1/24/2002 – Long Live Marmite
Published: January 24, 2002
Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This?
Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This? The Problem At a time when we are quite aware of the need for and value of transparency in the reporting of the activities of corporations (thanks most recently to the Enron affair), we could quite usefully extend this t… Continue reading Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This?
Published: January 1, 2002
When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor – book review
When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor Book Review: William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1997) Race is never far from the surface in America’s public or private worlds. T… Continue reading When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor – book review
Published: March 24, 2001
The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations – book review
The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations Book Review/Essay 3/97 The recent celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Marshall Plan was more than just a bit of self adulatory puffery for this generatio… Continue reading The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations – book review
Published: March 24, 1997
Michael Crichton’s Congo and the Transformation of the Western Mind
Book Review/Essay 2/97 (revised 1/29/02 – maps added at bottom) (revised 6/25/03 – map of Angola superimposed on the US) Michael Crichton’s 1980 pulp novel Congo opens with an introduction that is truly arresting . I quote here the first two para… Continue reading Michael Crichton’s Congo and the Transformation of the Western Mind
Published: January 24, 1997
Mark goes to Taiwan on business, side trip to visit Torrey and Jane in Australia – 8/1986
Not started
Published: August 30, 1986
Mark in Milan Italy on business, Paris with Harvey Meyerson – 4/1986
not started
Published: April 30, 1986
Birthday Present ~1956
Mark’s father gave him a set of Buck chisels and a sharpening stone for his birthday in roughly 1956 – may have been a Christmas present. In his view the most memorable part of the gift was a lesson in how to sharpen chisels and by extension other cutt… Continue reading Birthday Present ~1956
Published: June 27, 1957
Mark’s Tennis Lesson – 4.4.2024
(click the title to see the video) Karen thinks that Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is the right music for this video. Video with Copland Karen came along for my weekly tennis lesson on Thursday, 4.4.2024. She took some photos and video. I boiled… Continue reading Mark’s Tennis Lesson – 4.4.2024
Published: April 6, 2024
6/11/2021 – Ninth Anniversary – $1 million raised for UThisMe, LLC.
6/11/2012 – a meeting was held with a key investor in UThisMe, LLC. The new business plan, written by Mark, was presented. A $1 million investment followed. Mark has been continuously involved as a consultant in many roles since.
Published: June 11, 2021
Pandemic Zoom Meetings since March 23, 2020
Zoom meetings hosted by us to date: (we attended others hosted by others) Sun, May 3 05:30 PM – David, Ellen, Ian, Cynthia….. Sun, May 3 12:30 PM – OLD Family chat Sat, May 2 06:30 PM – Chat, drinks,etc. with ted and Anne Sat, May 2 04:00 PM – Mark an… Continue reading Pandemic Zoom Meetings since March 23, 2020
Published: May 5, 2020
RiversideBusinessCoach.com mothballed
As of 1/20/2020 RiversideBusinessCoach.com is being decommissioned. An archive of the site is here: http://rbc.markorton.com/ (opens in a new window)
Published: February 3, 2020
Riverside Business Coach – my favorite blog entries and other tidbits….
1/21/2020 I haven’t written anything new for the RBC website since 2017. Yesterday I announced on the site that the business is closing down. This led me back to the site and a viewing of many of the blog articles I wrote over the years. Here are some… Continue reading Riverside Business Coach – my favorite blog entries and other tidbits….
Published: January 21, 2020
MMO Job History
Carpenter – Ernie Pierce Contracting – summer job – Lunenburg MA – 1964 Factory hand – part time during college – Appleton WI – 1966-68 Track gang – Soo RR – Appleton WI – Summer 1968 Spray Painter – Webb-Norfolk Conveyor, Cohasset MA – Summer 1969 Hig… Continue reading MMO Job History
Published: June 18, 2019
Me and Religion – an essay
In recent years I have become much more forward and public in expressing my dislike and distrust of organized religion. This occasionally leads to some uncomfortable exchanges with people I meet. But, organized religion is a force that must be dealt with.
Published: April 14, 2019
New Hudson Area Library – from old to new – the movie
A movie assembled from still photos covering the period 2012-2016.
Published: March 25, 2019
Business Cards – a history
I’ve had a lot of business cards over the years.
Published: March 25, 2019
70th Birthday Greetings – an exchange with Jonathan
An exchange of emails on Mark’s 70th birthday.
Published: October 15, 2017
Transforming Libraries – an essay
An essay about how and why libraries have survived and flourished.
Published: August 24, 2017
AmericanDelusions
All of my recent work in the area of history, economics, politics, sociology, and the like are to be found at AmericanDelusions.com
Published: July 23, 2017
Concrete Dumping – more than a local Hudson nuisance
Posted on May 4, 2017 on CurrentMatters Thanks to GossipsOfRivertown for the image . Carole Osterink reported in her post “Unbelievable” on May 3rd about the dumping of waste concrete by F.H.Stickles Concrete on a site off north 2nd Street adjacent to… Continue reading Concrete Dumping – more than a local Hudson nuisance
Published: May 3, 2017
Taft School 1964 – Recital
My project for the Fall of 1964 was to present a music recital. Half was solo horn work and the other half chamber music.
Published: December 2, 2015
HAL Outreach and Fundraisers for Capital Campaign 2014
River cruise 7/12/2014 – Joe and Lynn Keenan, Betsy Miller Street fair on Columbia St. 8/23/2014 Chili Contest at river front park. David Murphy 10/11/2014
Published: December 31, 2014
Taft School 1965 – Rise to Power of Stalin and Khruschev
In my second Independent Studies Program session, over the Winter of 1965, I worked on a paper that came to be titled, “The Rise to Power of Stalin and Khrushchev: the role of the party”.
Published: December 8, 2014
Remnants of machinist days
Here are some measurement and other tools from my days as a machinist. For a while I painted a red mark on them to make it easier to retrieve them from other machinists who had borrowed them.
Published: August 4, 2014
Visiting Libraries in the West – California and Arizona – 2/2013
As the President of the Board of Trustees of the Hudson Area Library, I have been very involved over the past year with the design of a new library to be built in the Armory (State and Fifth Sts.) here in Hudson. This has lead me to be very interested… Continue reading Visiting Libraries in the West – California and Arizona – 2/2013
Published: March 4, 2013
Are We Over Taxed, Over Defended, Bamboozled by the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Presidential Complex?
Americans feel that government at all levels is sucking the life blood out of them through taxes and regulations. Lets just talk about the tax part of this perception. What are the facts of the tax burdens on Americans? – an essay from 2010.
Published: September 14, 2010
Mark attends Board of Trustees Hudson Area Library meeting – beginning of long engagement
August 2009
Published: August 22, 2009
30th Wedding Anniversary Letter to Children
A letter from 6/20/2007 to the kids about marriage and life.
Published: June 20, 2007
Valuedge, Inc. 1999 – 2004
During 1994-5 Sherry Gordon and I worked on a supplier assessment tool as part of our NESI (New England Suppliers Institute) work. With the help of John Martin of the consulting firm Chadwick, Martin & Bailey we developed an organizational assessme… Continue reading Valuedge, Inc. 1999 – 2004
Published: October 19, 2004
A Fog of War or a Fog of Ethics?
Through our friend Esther Hanig we attended a showing of Errol Morris’s new documentary, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara. at the Kennedy Library in Dorchester on December 14, 2003. This documentary is an extended adve… Continue reading A Fog of War or a Fog of Ethics?
Published: December 18, 2003
BLOG MANUFACTURING NOTES
Monday 7/21/03: I have begun the second half of the 2003 YIP Project using some new software, NoteTaker (1.5.4 from Aquaminds) I actually began using this application to help organize all of the materials, projects, and wanderings on my laptop. I notic… Continue reading BLOG MANUFACTURING NOTES
Published: July 21, 2003
6/29/2003 – 5K race and Shulman brunch
Sunday The New Charles River 5K and 5 mile race. The guy to my left appears to be running. In fact, he is a race walker. I kept pace with him for the first mile. By the three mile marker, I couldn’t see him. He finished 3 minutes ahead of me. That’s me… Continue reading 6/29/2003 – 5K race and Shulman brunch
Published: June 29, 2003
Year In Pictures – May 2003
Thursday May 1, 2003 Work on a proposal with Boeing. Saturday May 3, 2003 I ran a 5K race along the Charles, The First Annual Asthma Fund Raiser at MGH, part of World Asthma Day. Here I am in the T-shirt from the last race (December 3, 2000) I ran in b… Continue reading Year In Pictures – May 2003
Published: June 3, 2003
Year In Pictures – February 2003
Saturday February 8, 2003 Back on SATURDAY 02/28/03 I started the YIP Project. Snow on spiral stairs. Forecast 4-6 inches. More than 12 arrived. But, very fluffy. This began as a picture-centric project with just captions below. As explained elsewhere,… Continue reading Year In Pictures – February 2003
Published: March 30, 2003
3/25/2003 – CyberArts Presentation and Resources
March 2003 – Presentation Announcement I will be presenting two Flash movies of artists’ books and a brief technical discussion on Wednesday April 30, 2003. Time and location details below. I have been interested for some time now in how to make artist… Continue reading 3/25/2003 – CyberArts Presentation and Resources
Published: March 26, 2003
What is the Year-In-Pictures Project?
I have been troubled for most of my life by an almost comprehensive lack of memories of the day-to-day events in my life. So, this year I started with the notion that I would keep a diary, rudimentary to be sure, in which I would note significant event… Continue reading What is the Year-In-Pictures Project?
Published: February 5, 2003
Forensics – the movie 2002
See 3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie for a more complete treatment. Director on knees begging me to say my line correctly. BU movie project view from BU dormitory where movie shooting was done BU movie project view from BU dormitor… Continue reading Forensics – the movie 2002
Published: December 1, 2002
6/2/2002 – Greenland and Global Warming
an essay from the original markorton.com website: Greenland and Global Warming When I looked down into the Grand Canyon for the first time, I paused only for a moment at its immensity and moved right onto a more self-centered thought, “How tiny human h… Continue reading 6/2/2002 – Greenland and Global Warming
Published: June 2, 2002
3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie
Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie March 19, 2002 A couple of weeks ago Miriam Goodman emailed me about a possible role in a student movie. I got in touch with Tova Goodman(link added in 2019), a student at Boston University, who let me know that they were lo… Continue reading 3/19/2002 – Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie
Published: March 19, 2002
02122002 – Short Words
Short Words “Short words” (stolen from the Economist Style Guide (021202) Use them. They are often Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin in origin. They are easy to spell and easy to understand. Thus prefer about to approximately, after to following, let to pe… Continue reading 02122002 – Short Words
Published: February 24, 2002
Enron, Trust and Malfeasance
January 23, 2002 (revised 1/29/02) The collapse of energy giant Enron over the last six months has produced a surprising level of outrage especially for a cynic like me. As this drama continues to unfold, I have been trying to understand how Enron stru… Continue reading Enron, Trust and Malfeasance
Published: January 29, 2002
1/23/2002 – Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance
Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance The collapse of energy giant Enron over the last six months has produced a surprising level of outrage especially for a cynic like me. As this drama continues to unfold, I have been trying to understand how Enron structure… Continue reading 1/23/2002 – Enron, Trust, and Malfeasance
Published: January 26, 2002
1/24/2002 – Long Live Marmite
“Long Live Marmite! Only the British Could Love It” from the New York Times January 24, 2002: from a page A4 article “Burton-on-Trent Journal: Long Live Marmite! Only the British Could Love It” “Being British, the company has had an appreciation of the… Continue reading 1/24/2002 – Long Live Marmite
Published: January 24, 2002
Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This?
Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This? The Problem At a time when we are quite aware of the need for and value of transparency in the reporting of the activities of corporations (thanks most recently to the Enron affair), we could quite usefully extend this t… Continue reading Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This?
Published: January 1, 2002
When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor – book review
When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor Book Review: William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1997) Race is never far from the surface in America’s public or private worlds. T… Continue reading When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor – book review
Published: March 24, 2001
The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations – book review
The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations Book Review/Essay 3/97 The recent celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Marshall Plan was more than just a bit of self adulatory puffery for this generatio… Continue reading The Marshall Plan and Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations – book review
Published: March 24, 1997
Michael Crichton’s Congo and the Transformation of the Western Mind
Book Review/Essay 2/97 (revised 1/29/02 – maps added at bottom) (revised 6/25/03 – map of Angola superimposed on the US) Michael Crichton’s 1980 pulp novel Congo opens with an introduction that is truly arresting . I quote here the first two para… Continue reading Michael Crichton’s Congo and the Transformation of the Western Mind
Published: January 24, 1997
Mark goes to Taiwan on business, side trip to visit Torrey and Jane in Australia – 8/1986
Not started
Published: August 30, 1986
Mark in Milan Italy on business, Paris with Harvey Meyerson – 4/1986
not started
Published: April 30, 1986
Birthday Present ~1956
Mark’s father gave him a set of Buck chisels and a sharpening stone for his birthday in roughly 1956 – may have been a Christmas present. In his view the most memorable part of the gift was a lesson in how to sharpen chisels and by extension other cutt… Continue reading Birthday Present ~1956
Published: June 27, 1957