One More Week in NJ

Since I am heading out of New Jersey back to New England again i thought I would take a look back on all of the stuff that happened and things I accomplished in the year I have been living in New Jersey:

• Lost my partner/best friend and my father within a month period.  Did my best to be strong for family and my dad's friends.
• Reconnected with many amazing NJ/NYC/DC friends and comrades.
• Paid off all my student loans!
• Bought a car
• Spent quality time with family including my brother and his amazing partner.
• worked at a warehouse here for over a year and really learned a lot.
• Really upped my game in soccer and scored goals playing against former professional players from Colombia.
• Substantially improved my Spanish and Mexican slang.
• Read a ton of books... both political and fiction. 
• Did a ton of writing and thinking and believe that I have a much better conception of my politics.  Gave a talk on this at a bookfair in Scranton and was very happy with the results
• witnessed some badass black lives matters demos.
• Saw a bunch of sick shows with bands such as Electric Wizard and Pallbearer.
• Greatly improved my mental and physical health from where I was a year ago.
• Ate soooo many pupusas and pizzas.

Mistborn: The Only Slave Rebellion I Wasn't Enthusiastic About

Mistborn is a book about a slave uprising led by some former slaves with Jedi powers and written by a Mormon. Parts of the book are excellent and I found myself cringing in others..particularly at the awful politics of the lead character. 

Despite descriptions of utter class oppression in addition to massacres committed by the godhead,  there seems to be constant reminders that "not all the nobility are bad.  As a result (spoiler alert)


...the rebels decide to preserve the nobility and create a monarchy to prevent the "economy from collapsing and the slaves from committing wanton acts of reprisals against the nobles.  As I said, a Mormon wrote it.

In addition,  besides the main character, there is barely a female character in the story...which is more excusable in Tolkien than a modern story. 

Seeing Electric Wizard!

In less than a month I will be seeing the infamous doom metal band Electric Wizard with my friend Steve.  Unfortunately, we waited too long and we will have to see them in Baltimore, rather than Philadelphia or New York city.  Regardless,  it should still be really fun and their latest album is pretty good.

I've also been digging on a bunch of retro doom bands lately such as Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and would love to learn about new bands if anyone has any tips!

I love this song!

Ian Chinich on Moving Out, Leaving New Jersey, and Being Accountable to Your Loved Ones.

I haven't updated this blog in a while, but for those of you reading it (if there are any), I am looking to change things up a bit.  The Chinich family has definitely gone through crisis in the last year, with my father succumbing to his pancreatic cancer in October and the emotional toll that this obvious has had.  That being said, I moved back to New Jersey from Los Angeles with the sole purpose of taking care of my father and while it has been really nice to be around family and NJ friends--I dont think I can stay.

The emotional support and friendship a lot of people have given has been amazing, but it is dangerous to be living purely for my father's memory and in a house that still bares his images like a mausoleum.  That being said, some friends in RI have offered to take me in and develop a change of scenery.  Im thinking around May 1st.  For more information, "Ian chinich the Blog" Reports:  (i just wanted to say that :P  )

New Jersey has many things I still really like.  It has amazing food (Im a serial- pizza eating fiend...which probably isn't healthy), it has friends from both high school, college, as well as easy access to NYC and Philly.  Lastly it has my mother, brother, uncle, cousin, my mom and dad's partners, and others who have been really close on account of my fathers situation.  Being accountable to them and supporting them emotionally is a huge responsibility that I plan on continuing.  However, that does not mean I have to stay here and live in limbo either.  

RI has coffee milk, a really working class environment, cheap rent, new people to meet, and a group of supportive friends who already know all the circumstances of what I have been going through.  Despite the ridiculous unemployment that is there, I am also pretty confident I can find work.  As a result it seems really appealing.... and its still in the pizza belt--for the Win!

Ian Chinich at a Pizza Joint in Buenos Aires

Scored 2 goals in one game!

This isn't much of a post, just to note that I rocked it with 2 goals off of crosses making it 2-0 and getting serious street credit from my coworkers.

THE BEST!

Dealing with Death

I haven't put out a blog post for a while.  Most of the reason was that I wasn't sure of the utility of this medium, but I guess it is also a good place for me to express ideas of my own that probably nobody will ever read.

My father passed away on October 11th and since then, it has been a whirlwind of family, my fathers, friends, cleaning his home for company, figuring out how to pay his bills, and dealing with a myriad of emotions.

That being said, I have definitely come out on top, thanks to an amazing group of friends who have totally been there through everything.  Despite what has happened, I feel confident to come out stronger than ever.  My dad's humor is definitely not going away any time soon as I am filled with puns and "dad jokes".

The other end of things is I have started to feel very energetic in terms of productivity.  Maybe its cause I dont really sleep anymore, but aside from seriously upping my soccer skills at work, I have been writing a lot of political ideas down and been thinking through a number of issues that are rarely discussed in the circles I have frequented.  I am also much more in appreciation for people that work long term in working class jobs and still act as militants.

anyway.  enough of a rant for the day.   cheers.