Imperfect Strangers

Motherf*cker.

Warning: Two middle-aged women talking about scheduled sex. *screwface emoji* LOL. But let’s discuss. What say you tired people? Are you making time for making love? Ew. That’s a real sentence on the Internet now. But seriously. Spontaneous or scheduled? WFT for real?

On this very special episode Melissa and Amanda, who is living her best life and checking boxes off her bucket list, sit down with the lovely Roz Hernandez also know as super talented drag comedian Roz Drezfalez. Roz, host of Ghosted! by Roz Drezfalez, a podcast exploring all things paranormal, joins the Strangers to talk Ouija boards, the awesomeness of early aughts pop culture, drag as performance and gender expression, pantless party ghosts and size 11 shoes. You can check out Ghosted! anywhere you listen to podcasts and enjoy her Instagram @rozhernandez.

Melissa's back and she's full of affirmations and a positive-ish outlook on life. "She's looking good today. She's looking good in every way..." Buffalo Stance. Amanda, delighted by Melissa's new perspective, shares an interesting factoid about buffalo and storms. Did you know, unlike humans who run from or wait out storms, buffalo wait for the storm to cross right over the crest of the peak of the mountaintop and as the storm rolls over the ridge, the buffalo turn and charge directly into the storm? They man up and weather that shit which is the theme of this episode. On the holiday front, Melissa buys an Oculus for her kids so they can virtually go outside and Amanda buys a trampoline for hers because they have to actually go outside. Hi.

This week we have a chat with Stranger Friend Victor aka: @dayvvic aka: Victlissa and get to know more about the man who is always making us laugh in the Monday Night Live and Discord chats. Victor shares what it's like to work in retail post-pandemic, gives us a glimpse into his family life and schools Amanda on what it means to be part of the Lambily.

This week Psychic Medium Kareen Boebel speaks with Amanda about her podcast Walking on Feathers, out of body experiences and what she wishes more people knew about psychic mediums.

Can you believe come Thanksgiving, Amanda and I will have been at this podcasting thing for two whole years?! If you’ve been here from the beginning, you know how far we’ve come in technical terms of sound and format. (Hush, we know I haven’t come far with technologies, but focus!) As two independent, self-taught podcasters we are excited and proud of this little creative endeavor that’s become a real gig. But also, you’ve experienced how we’ve grown as friends who are still getting to know each other and discovering where we wildly diverge on major hot-button issues like showering and ruffles on kids’ clothing. If you’re new here, welcome. Hi. We decided this week to take the OG listeners down memory lane a bit and introduce the new Stranger-friends to how this all happened. Here’s our official meet-cute. If you’re like my husband, you just said “meet-cute, the hell is that?” A meet-cute is a TV term for the first encounter between two characters. You’re not like my husband though. You knew what that was. Anyway!

In November 2019, Amanda was creating her own podcast called Your Mom Has A Podcast where she’d interview mothers in her orbit to discuss issues ranging from teen pregnancy to infertility struggles. One day she said, fuck it. I’m gonna ask Melissa from The Real World for an interview. She’d watched the show and read Princess Melissa and the seasons of our lives kinda matched up. Marriage. First kid. Breastfeeding. Second kid. Third kid — are we really doing this!? Long term marriage. Mid century modern furniture blah blah blah. Baby girl slid in them DMs (if you listen, you know now that Amanda be bold AF, fearless female, actual boss babe) and somehow, some way I too said fuck it after avoiding most interview or podcast requests for, like, ever. After all, getting into relationships with random strangers for public consumption is in my wheelhouse. I don’t know why exactly that DM was the YES but look at how nicely it all worked out. We Podcasting Over Here, MMK?!

The thing is — it wasn’t an accident as our astrology friend Andy Bellatti would illustrate on our very special 50th (!) episode Written In The Stars where Amanda and I had our chart synastry done. Turns out the stars were aligning for this to take place all the while. An imperfectly perfect beginning to two Imperfect Strangers becoming friends and making a podcast with a capital P. Yup. Shit’s cool, right?

If you’re just getting here, take a stroll through our archives and get to know us as we get to know each other. If you’ve been here, take a stroll through our archives and replay that shit. You know what the deal is. ‘PRECIATE YOU!

On this opposites attract ass episode, Amanda says she loved dressing her kids in all the over-the-top fashions including ruffles and bows, a category of whimsical kids clothing we now officially deem as Curlz Font. Melissa, ever the judgmental curmudgeon, is like nah. How are these two still becoming friends? Amanda, you can exit stage left at any time! Melissa hates everything, LOL. They do, however, agree that stickers on cars are a no.

One this episode, Amanda reminds all the elderladies to get those titties checked. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month after all. Melissa tells a story of Justin Beck at a Black family funeral and his first Thanksgiving with the beloved Shorty and Mercy. Also, do you sometimes root for scammers? Melissa said she did until Amanda reminded her she shouldn’t.

On this very grown-up episode of Imperfect Strangers meets House Hunters, Amanda is in the mood to move. Amanda, ever the adult, loves a Zillow listing. She knows all about square footage, location location location and renovations — which Melissa dreads having lived through it once and once alone hence she’s in her forever home. Melissa bursts Amanda’s bubble by telling her Boston is known to be one of America’s most racist cities. She didn’t know. Shorry. Melissa recounts a Life On The Z List story with Chingy in Boston though so that’s cool.

This episode is dedicated to the late Suzanne Whang. May she Rest In Peace. She holds a special place in Melissa’s Blasian heart ever since she played Karrueche’s mom in the film A Weekend With The Family, and of course, for her iconic turn as the host of House Hunters.

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