KMERRITTBLOG

Introducing: My New Travel/Food/Culture Blog

Yesterday I flew into Houston, Texas as the first day of my 30 day All You Can Jet journey! I’ll be documenting most of the trip on my new travel/food/culture blog, Just Visiting. This is my very first experience with jetBlue, and so far I’m extremely satisfied. Upon arriving out at terminal 5 at JFK, the jetBlue crew were giving out free jetBlue All You Can Jet jackets to all AYCJ-ers, along with pins, free donuts and coffee. They had a wall set up for jetters to share their journeys, so I of course used it to promote my blog and share my itinerary. Then I did a short interview on video explaining how I lost my job and decided to take this opportunity to travel the country and launch my travel blog. They even gave out free snacks and drinks on the plane, all while I enjoyed three hours of classic rock videos on VH1 Classic via DirecTV.

If you’re interested in keeping up on some of the photos and adventures, head on over to JustVisitingBlog.com, or follow me on twitter.com/KimJustVisiting. I’ll have limited wifi, so all of my time spent updating will most likely be on the travel site, at least for the next month! Here’s my itinerary:

9/7 NYC to Houston

9/8 Houston to NYC

9/9 NYC to Portland

9/10 in Portland

9/11 in Portland

9/12 driving up to Seattle

9/13 Seattle to Montauk

9/14 in Montauk

9/15 in Montauk

9/16 Montauk to San Diego

9/17 in San Diego

9/18 in San Diego

9/19 Greyhound from San Diego to LA

9/20 in LA

9/21 in LA

9/22 driving the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to San Francisco

9/23 in San Francisco

9/24 in San Francisco

9/25 Redeye down to Montego Bay, Jamaica

9/26 in Montego Bay

9/27 in Montego Bay

9/28 in Montego Bay

9/29 Montego bay to NYC

9/30 NYC to Naples

10/1 in Naples

10/2 in Naples

10/3 in Naples

10/4 Naples to Salt Lake City

10/5 in Salt Lake City

10/6 Salt Lake City redeye to NYC

Victoria’s Secret Thinks The BoSox Are in The NFL

And who says models are stupid? Victoria’s Secret introduced their new Pink NFL Apparel line, including the Boston Red Sox in the “shop by team” category. Apparently they’re also the first to break the news that the Red Sox are hanging up their mitts in exchange for some helmets and extra padding this fall.

“Cleanup: Stabbing in Aisle Seven”

I ran across this picture on Glamour.com’s “21 Healthy Snacking Tips.” Does anyone else think this stock photo was a poor choice? I was expecting the tip to read “When purchasing snacks in the grocery store, watch out for creepy, lurking men, who obviously keep sharp knives hidden behind their backs.”

Bros Icing Bros Gets Iced

Apparently there has been a huge game involving Smirnoff Ice going on across US colleges for the past several weeks. It’s a game where douchebags bros (can we just call them brobags, please?) run around trying to “ice” each other. I’m not entirely sure of the rules, but from the sounds of it, a brobag can present a Smirnoff Ice to a fellow brobag at any time, requiring them to get down on one knee and chug the sugary, alcoholic beverage. However, a brobag can “ice-block” the initial brobag by busting out a Smirnoff Ice that he was carrying on hand. In that case, the challenging brobag must chug both drinks.

From my experience with Smirnoff (before I was smart enough to realize that whiskey is the answer) that sounds like a whole lot of heartburn, and even more vomitting. Smirnoff is disgusting. The only time a guy would ever buy this stuff before was if he planned on hooking up with an underage mess of a girl. But Bros Icing Bros managed to reach these same frat boys in an entirely new way, and in response, Smirnoff shut the website down. I can’t decide if pulling the website was a good or bad idea, because at the end of the day it’s their brand that has to deal with this image of frat boy binge drinking. But I would put money on it that their 2nd quarter sales have gone up tremendously. I’m curious to see some numbers.

BP is Terribly Sorry… Obviously.

If you haven’t been following @bpglobalpr, you’re missing out. The mess in the Gulf is nothing to laugh about, but these Tweets are hilarious. Props to whoever’s brilliant idea this was.

Hot Dog! Awesome Package Design.

I just discovered thedieline.com for some awesome packaging design. I’m one of those people who will always choose the product with the coolest packaging.

Have You Googled Today?

To celebrate Pac Man’s 30th anniversary, Google put up their coolest logo design I’ve seen so far! I thought the Pac Man graphic was cool, but then I pressed “Insert Coin” which actually let me PLAY the game, and then it became awesome!

Between Two Ferns

Seriously. Go. Watch. Now. There’s an entire series of like 8 interviews. Funniest shit I’ve seen in a long time.

What Can Eminem Teach You?

I’m not a huge fan of rap, but I enjoy listening to Eminem. A lot actually. I grew up thinking the only reason I liked him was because he was from Detroit, and the only reason he got so much publicity was because of his extreme vulgarity. It wasn’t until recently that I realized the guy’s actually ridiculously talented.

I think the song Forever by Drake is a perfect example of the rap industry in general, that also really showcases Eminem’s skill. I’ve only heard the song like 3 times, but I’ve heard it enough to know that Lil Wayne and Kanye West are put to shame once Eminem closes with the last verse. His storytelling is so much better, and his speed so much faster than either of the other guys. Personally, I can’t stand Lil Wayne or Kanye West because I don’t care to hear about bitches, money, and drugs on song after song. But Eminem. The man is an extremely talented lyricist and storyteller. His songs are written with such precision as to pack in as much detail in as little time as possible. Each word must be chosen precisely so that the flow and the meaning are both maintained. Essentially, the dude’s actually a great writer.

I must not be the only person who thinks so, because I just ran across this article over on copyblogger.com. It’s a great little read entitled “The Eminem Guide to Becoming a Writing and Marketing Machine.” There’s some pretty solid advice for writers of all sorts, whether you’re in marketing or just a creative writer. Plus, it’s written by someone who actually knows a thing or two about copywriting, not some thugged out Eminem fan with horrible grammar.

Ohio: The New Hollywood!

I just found out about this website at work; What Celebrities Would Look Like if They Moved to Ohio. It’s so dead on, and extremely hilarious if you’re familiar with Ohioans. Seriously. Go. Look. Now.