Robert Payne

Yes, officer, as a matter of fact I was speeding, careening, wobbling, and basically flailing for every single turn down the Blue Ridge Parkway – at midnight – under a full moon – trying carveboarding for the first time. It may look easy; it may not even seem that fast to you. But I’ll promise [...]

My own little motivational poster to remind me of what I saw at first light yesterday morning. Good times!

View Larger Image I happened to be in Washington, D.C. for the Online News Association 2010 conference when the Rally to Restore Sanity took place. Needless to say, I took a little walk down to the National Mall to see what all the fuss was about. There wasn’t much fuss, just a few hundred thousand [...]

Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, one would think I would have learned how to play golf. Family play. Friends play. Colleagues play. But I do not play. Not well anyway. After graduating from Clemson University, I made my way out West. I peddled, paddled, climbed, hiked, and some times even crawled across all kinds [...]

Tropical Storm Colin didn’t turn out to be what many Florida surfers wanted, but for early August when waves are typically nonexistent, who can complain about head high, glassy waves with offshore winds? This narcissistic pic is from Saturday morning. It got bigger and better throughout the day. We are entering the peak season for [...]

I post this image of some guys working a Banshee Bungee at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach, Florida, not so much because it is a fun photo, but because of what a stranger came up to me on the beach and said after I took it. He joked,  “Most folks would think it is [...]

On Saturday I fueled up my far-from-fuel-efficient SUV and burned my way out to Upham Beach for the Hands Across the Sand demonstration against offshore oil drilling. I’d never been to Upham, but my Droid’s operating software navigated the asphalt-covered roads flawlessly. It was already a scorcher by 10:30am, so I ran the car’s AC [...]

When I moved to Tampa, Florida someone told me there were occasionally waves big enough to surf in the Gulf. I figured I’d believe them when I saw proof. Moving from California and the Left Coast, one gets a slightly different idea of what constitutes a ride-able wave. But lo and behold, one day it [...]

There are few things in life better than an early morning surf session.

A dog is a dog, and a bad one isn’t worth spit; but you get a good one and they’re like a member of the family. About a year ago I lost one of the best dogs a person could ever have. He died of cancer on my birthday during a trip to the North [...]