About Portfolio of Enthusiasms

Always nice to know a little about who’s at the keyboard and why anything exists.

Who are you and how’d you get in here?

Hi. I’m Ryan. A long time ago I wrote for The Oregonian newspaper. This was almost back before websites. I covered sports for a decade or so and then hopped to the features section to write about music and culture. I’ve written all kinds of stuff since getting laid off in 2013.

Like what?

Two books that I’m awfully proud of: “Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way” and “Springsteen: Album by Album.” I spent some time as executive editor at Car and Driver magazine and write a bunch of advertising stuff these days.

So this newsletter pulls from all of those experiences?

That’s the plan. Staring at my resume a few years ago I realized that I’d been lucky to spend a lot of time covering things people were enthusiastic about. Luckier still, they were things I was enthusiastic about, but the newsletter pulls its name from a Jim Harrison quote I came across when I was writing the book about Jimmy Buffett. It was in the early-70s fishing documentary Tarpon, which was filmed in Key West. Buffett did the music. Harrison wrote and narrated.

“We go through life with a diminishing portfolio of enthusiasms. So you try to seek out in life moments that give you this immense jolt of electricity. It’s a tranquilizer better than any chemical tranquilizer. So you try to have something that gives you this electricity and freshens up your feeling about being alive.”

My personal portfolio has felt awfully diminished lately. This is an attempt to reignite the curiosity that fuels enthusiasm.

How often will this publish?

Every week, I hope.

Anything else?

Not right now. Feel free to reach out if you’ve got any questions: [email protected]