Sunday, December 18, 2016

Episode 11: The World of Guardians

We somehow made it through our first year of Strangerville. The learning curve has been steep, and will surely continue to be so. But somehow Jolyn and I have survived the year without

1. Killing each other

2. Falling (mutually) in love

3. Getting married for tax reasons

4. Getting divorced for tax reasons

5. Starting a band that specializes in Caribbean-themed bat mitzvahs

6. Destroying the entire internet except for the Spacejam website

7. Prison for more than one month

So as you can see, it has been a miraculous year.

When we started Strangerville at the beginning of the year we never dreamed that by the end of 2016 we would have obtained the reach that we have. And we have all of you to thank for that. Jolyn and I would have an illegal amount of fun putting Strangerville together even if our mothers were our only listeners (Cathie and Nancy? You are listening, right??? You've been awfully quiet lately. We know where you live.)

But being able to share the amazing stories we've been fortunate enough to record all year with y'all has made this so much more meaningful for us and all of our storytellers.

AND I DON'T EVEN SAY Y'ALL OR KNOW HOW IT'S SPELLED.

You have been the bee's knees for all of your help this year to share Strangerville and spread the word. At this time of year most of the podcasts you listen to are begging for money. We aren't doing that at Strangerville. Although, Jolyn has been eyeing a very fancy slap bracelet recently and probably wouldn't turn down a quarter in a pinch, ifyouknowwhatImean.

No. Instead of asking for money like people without pride, we just ask that you use all of the generosity you have in your whole soul to share Strangerville right now. Share our Facebook post. Send a Tweetbomb out into Twittertube. Email your family. Send a fax to the White House. Post a duck-face selfie on Instagram.

We don't care how you do it. We just promise that an angel will get its wings (or have its wings taken away--whichever you prefer) if you do us this one big favor right now.

And this is a great episode to do so. I know I sound like a broken record every month, but The World of Guardians really is one of our favorite episodes we have produced this year. It is packed with stories we know you will love and that we are sure will give you a good chuckle. Also, it includes a cameo from Brianne, Strangerville's brightest star.

I'm sorry for saying the word "chuckle." I promise to never do it again. Unless I'm punishing you.

So without further ado, we give you Episode 11.

P.S. (Does a "P.S." count as "further ado"? I don't actually know what "ado" is. Can someone please clear this up?) Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a really exciting announcement about Strangerville in 2017. I would give you more detail right now but Jolyn and Meg might actually slaughter me just for having this "P.S." They are each scary individually. But you have no idea the horror of their powers combined.



This time in Strangerville, we explore stories about awkward and complicated encounters and relationships with parents and guardians. A first-time mom suffers wrath after destroying Christmas magic. A father surprises his six children with an unexpected gift. A young boy brings a present home to his mother who must feign excitement. A teenage girl at a new school receives an unwelcome visitor to her math class. And the daughter of a fringe politician must find a way to make peace during a volatile year.
Intro: Brianne Fallis; Jolyn Metro
Segments:
1. Popcorn Shrimp by Sam Allen and D'On Allen
2. Did You Make Your Bed? by Rachelle Pearson 
3. Politimom by Jen Robinson 



~It Just Gets Stranger

17 comments:

  1. Facebooked, Pinterested, and Tweeted :)

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    1. Ditto. I will share Strangerville until my voice runs out (I do it by screaming out the window. Not very effective in the desert where I live, but you know).

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  2. This episode was amazing. I want you to know that I literally lol'd at the popcorn shrimp story. And I don't even say LOL!

    I am happy to share Strangerville. I feel like it's my hipster Stranger duty to do so (I read Stranger way before it was cool. Not that it was ever not cool. But as a hipster, you know). And by the way I love Brianne with ever fiber of my being. As far as I'm concerned she should win mother of the year ever year.

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    1. LOL! (And I do say LOL)

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    2. Thank you Mags. I am glad someone agrees with me that I deserve mother of the year ;) HA HA. You are too sweet.

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  3. I think P.S. does count as "ado." I haven't looked up the definition, but I would guess that ado is literally anything. So you LIED to us. E-LIE.

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  4. Oh. My. Gosh. What on earth is that Space Jam website??

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    1. It's indestructible. And it is the best thing on the internet. Besides Stranger of course.

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  5. I LOVE all your blog posts, twitters, podcasts and read them all religiously for mention of myself and for accuracy. :) That imzy thing....well...you can keep that one. Love you...you are amazing!
    Cathie aka Mom aka Mamacita aka Katie-did-ah-doo-wacka-doo!!!
    XoXoXxxoooXoXXX

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  6. Loved this episode. Sam sounds like the most hysterical child and his mom was so cute. Loved Rachelle and her grandma. The last story from Jen was so so good. I could relate a lot to it because my relationship with my own parents has had similar bumps this year (but Jen's story was a lot more extreme). I'm super impressed with Strangerville. I found this site over the summer and binge-read about four years of posts and loved it. Strangerville is quickly becoming my favorite podcast. Thanks for all of the work you put into it. I will gladly share it if you promise to keep doing it!

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    1. Thank you Katie Ann! I'm glad you liked it. My hope is that people will find some measure of resonance, and will seek to improve any of their own relationships that might be bogged down by disagreement. I'm not perfect, and I've not always been great to my own mother, and writing this story reminded me of what matters most. Best of luck with your own situation!

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  7. So I listened to the episode last night. What I thought was really interesting about the last segment was that if my parents were still alive, I believe this election would have been one to bring us closer together. I could be wrong - because they could have been rabid Clinton supporters, particularly my mom. However, the fact that I could not and would not support Trump and started focusing third party I think would have impressed them. I was sad I couldn't discuss this election season with them.

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  8. Why hate on the word chuckle? What did it ever do to you, except accurately describe a person's laughter?

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  9. Wow - Jen is Cherilyn Eagar's daughter! I feel a lot better about the world when I see these ultra-right wing women with more moderate children (same with Kathryn Skaggs and her daughter). It's a very interesting glimpse into what their families experience.

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  10. My husband did not understand why chilighetti was funny. But he's from Cincinnati, where the most popular, well known local dish literally is chili on top of spaghetti. You can also add beans, onions, or cheese. A lot of cheese. It's called Skyline Chili.

    My five year old this past month:
    My son: "Mom, maybe Santa isn't real. Maybe you and Dad go to the store while we're all in bed and buy those presents yourselves."
    (We were in the car with his younger siblings, so I couldn't say that he was kind of right except for that my husband and I would never leave the kids home alone in their beds.)
    Me: "Well . . . What do you think?"
    (Silence as he considered that scenario.)
    Son: "Nope! Santa is totally real. There's no way it's you."

    I guess he just wasn't quite ready yet.

    But I personally dislike faking Santa. I'm jealous that he gets credit for all my hard work. Ha. And I don't have any memory of believing in him as a kid. (I'm the youngest, so maybe my older siblings ruined it for me?) I guess I'm a bit of a Scrooge in that way.

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