Lifestyle
The Virtual Meeting That Started It All
Sydney Chineze Mokel began working at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston in April 2020. Since she couldn’t meet her co-workers in person because of the pandemic, she asked a dozen of them for virtual coffee dates.
Tommaso Elijah Wagner was the only one who booked a full hour.
“What are we going to talk about for that long?” she said she had wondered.
As it turned out, they found quite a bit to discuss, including the fact that both had studied Mandarin in college. At the foundation, she was working as a foundation relations coordinator; he was a program assistant.
The two, both 28, didn’t actually meet face to face until Halloween, when they were invited by a co-worker to attend the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where masks were mandatory and distancing was recommended.
Their collaboration on a staff initiative during Black History Month in February 2021 had them discussing Black joy and Afrofuturism and meeting in person at Kung Fu Tea, near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., to exchange books. (She lent him “I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey,” by Langston Hughes; he lent her “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin.)
At their third book swap, in April, they met at the Loring Greenough House in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. Mr. Wagner brought homemade iced tea, while Ms. Mokel brought cookies she had baked.
“I realized I had a raging crush on him that just appeared out of nowhere,” Ms. Mokel, who goes by Chi, said. At the end of that third meeting, she asked if their next hangout could be a date.
They planned to visit the Museum of Fine Arts a week later, followed by a dinner at Thaitation, a restaurant in the Fenway neighborhood. Mr. Wagner decided he didn’t want to wait that long. Ms. Mokel was having a yard sale, and a day or two before their date, he stopped by.
They soon found that they “fell into these rhythms that complemented each other,” Ms. Mokel said.
While Ms. Mokel was already sure of her feelings for Mr. Wagner, their relationship was tested in late August 2021, when Ms. Mokel faced a hellish move from her home in Jamaica Plain to Cambridge. Mr. Wagner proved his mettle, getting out of bed at 6 a.m. to pilot the U-Haul. He brought her candy, too.
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
Two years later, In September 2023, she moved in with Mr. Wagner, to Somerville, Mass., where they live today. They proposed to each other the following month.
Mr. Wagner recreated their third book swap, but put a ring inside the book at the Loring Greenough House, while Ms. Mokel had friends and family gather in their apartment as a surprise — both in person and on Zoom — for when they returned.
Though Ms. Mokel had taken a new job in December 2022, most of their colleagues only learned of their relationship after they were engaged.
“I love how grounded Chi is, her deep knowledge of herself and her confidence in the person she is,” Mr. Wagner said. “I love her laugh, her eyes, and her smile.”
Ms. Mokel is the associate director of foundation relations at the Museum of Science in Boston. She has a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in international affairs.
Mr. Wagner is studying for a master’s degree in urban planning and policy at Northeastern and is an intern at the Boston-based Utile Architecture & Planning. He has a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy from Colby College.
Ms. Mokel’s father is a Nigerian immigrant of the Igbo tribe and her mother is African-American; she was raised Episcopalian. Mr. Wagner’s mother is of Jewish and Chinese ancestry, while his father is of English and German descent. His mother is culturally Jewish, while his father, who was an Episcopalian, is now a Buddhist.
The couple noticed similarities in Jewish and Igbo traditions — the shared reverence for humor and storytelling — and sought to incorporate both cultures into their wedding ceremony.
They were married in front of 235 guests at Robbins Memorial Town Hall in Arlington, Mass., on March 8, by Rabbi Jen Gubitz, the founder of Modern Jewish Couples, an organization catering to interfaith and intercultural partners. The pair wore western dress for the ceremony — the bride in a vintage white gown she had bought secondhand on Poshmark — and changed into a Nigerian aso ebi dress, in forest green and gold, for the reception.
Appetizers included hot and sour soup and egg rolls, potato knishes and akara, Nigerian black-eyed pea fritters.
Before dinner, the bride’s oldest uncle blessed a kola nut, an Igbo tradition symbolizing unity. The couple danced the hora to Harry Belafonte’s “Hava Nagila,” as guests showered the couple with cash, a Nigerian wedding tradition known as the money spray.
“Tommaso is a charming mix of sweet and stubborn,” Ms. Mokel said. “Also, he has joined my family easily with an openness to embracing new cultural traditions and foods.”
FILE – The stage at the “American Idol” farewell season finale at the Dolby Theatre on Thursday, April 7, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)
Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
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Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
An “American Idol” music supervisor and her husband were both found dead in their Los Angeles home Monday afternoon.
Officers were conducting a welfare check at a home in the Encino neighborhood when they found the bodies of a man and woman with gunshot wounds.
An “American Idol” spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca, both 70. The couple owned their home, according to public records.
“Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her,” an “American Idol” spokesperson said in a statement. “Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
Los Angeles police said Tuesday afternoon they arrested 22-year-old Raymond Boodarian in connection with the couple’s deaths.
Boodarian was allegedly burglarizing their home while the couple was away July 10. He is accused of shooting and killing Kaye and her husband when they returned and then fleeing on foot. Boodarian has not yet been assigned a public defender and could not be reached for comment.
Police responded that same afternoon to reports of a burglary at the Encino home, but said in a press release there were “no signs of forced entry or trouble.”
Kaye, an industry veteran, has also worked in the music departments of several other productions such as “The Singing Bee,” “Hollywood Game Night,” “Lip Sync Battle,” and several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
Randy Couture
Out Of Hospital After Crash
… Recovering At Home
Published
Randy Couture is on the mend … TMZ Sports has learned he’s been discharged from the hospital following his scary crash last week and is now at home recovering.
The UFC legend sustained serious injuries after he wrecked his car during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas City … and actually needed to be airlifted to a medical facility to get treatment.
We’re told he suffered first and second-degree burns in the accident … and had trauma injuries as well as smoke inhalation.
But on Tuesday, he headed home to continue his recovery process.
Couture has been training to race in the NHRA … explaining recently getting behind the wheel in the new venture was “a new way to tickle that competitive spirit that I’ve had most of my life.”
The 62-year-old Army vet added, “I have no idea how it’s going to go, but I’m excited about the opportunities.”
It’s unclear where Couture’s racing future will go from here — but what’s most important is that it now seems he’s going to make a full recovery from a truly terrifying incident.
Britt Lower and Adam Scott in Severance. Both were nominated for Emmys Tuesday.
Apple TV+
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Apple TV+
Emmy nominations came out on Tuesday, and the winners will be announced on September 14. There are a lot of familiar faces, a few new ones, and a few … new old ones. (You can see the list here.) Here’s what we noticed.
Shows with big, well-regarded casts ran up their totals
Seth Rogen in The Studio.
Apple TV+
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Apple TV+
Severance and The Studio, both from Apple TV+, were the most-nominated shows on the drama and comedy sides, respectively. Severance received 27 nominations, and The Studio received 23. Of those Severance nominations, nine were for actors. Of the Studio nominations, 10 were for actors — including quite a run through the guest actor categories, where five men and one woman were nominated. The Studio and Severance were both very well-reviewed shows, too, but when you look at totals, it helps to have a lot of famous faces people admire. (See also: The White Lotus, which continues to crowd the supporting categories in drama.)
Jeff Hiller and Bridget Everett in Somebody Somewhere.
Sandy Morris/HBO
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Sandy Morris/HBO
The supporting actor in a comedy series category has a couple of nice surprises
It will always be annoying that the Emmys never paid much attention to the beautiful, funny Somebody Somewhere on HBO. But in the show’s final year of eligibility, at least, they found room to recognize Jeff Hiller, who played Joel, and who gave one of the most distinctive, heartfelt, big-hearted performances of the season. They also recognized an up-and-comer named Harrison Ford — his first Emmy nomination ever — for his great work in Apple TV+’s Shrinking, which was one of the most disappointing snubs last time around.
Colin Farrell in The Penguin.
HBO
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HBO
The streaming players are always shifting
For a while, the big streamers at the Emmys were Netflix and Hulu, but Apple TV+, Max and Disney+ are all well-established in the awards game at this point. Apple TV+ has to be thrilled with the big showings for The Studio and Severance, plus Shrinking and Slow Horses and even the very so-so Presumed Innocent miniseries. HBO is still very popular among voters, but its presence is changing a bit. When it comes to big nominees, there are The White Lotus and The Last Of Us on the drama side, and those aired on traditional HBO. But then there’s The Pitt in drama series, and Hacks in comedy, and those were on Max, or what was then Max — in other words, they were streaming-only. (An outlier: The Penguin, which is competing in the limited/anthology series category, was developed for Max but ultimately did air on HBO.) Disney+ also got 14 nominations for Andor, and Netflix is still in there with Adolescence, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and with Black Mirror. Hulu’s top performer this year, at least by numbers, and excluding those FX shows like The Bear, is Only Murders in the Building, though Paradise did well also.
Ted Danson in A Man on the Inside.
Colleen E. Hayes/Netflix
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Colleen E. Hayes/Netflix
There are always some heartbreakers
There is a difference between the concept of a “snub” and a nod that just didn’t happen, but there’s always some very good work that goes unrecognized. As a big fan of The Pitt, I was disappointed not to see Taylor Dearden, who played Dr. King, nominated, and as a fan of Netflix’s A Man on the Inside, I would certainly have nominated that. There will be great consternation over Diego Luna and the rest of the cast not being nominated for Andor, often paired with eye-rolling over all those The White Lotus acting nominations, which do seem to be nearly automatic — you get on that show, you get nominated.
Tramell Tillman in Severance.
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Apple TV+
The most fun comes from the first-time nominees
It’s always fun to see people get their first nods. There are established actors who just haven’t specialized in TV, like Harrison Ford, Colin Farrell (in The Penguin), and Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny (both for Monsters). There are surprising first-timers like Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, who have both been on TV for ages and were both finally nominated for Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. Exciting actors who are blowing up, like Tramell Tillman and Zach Cherry, both of Severance. The great Michael Urie, nominated for Shrinking and worth every vote; the marvelous Cristin Milioti, who’s been the best thing about several different shows and is nominated now for The Penguin.
And, of course, in the end, there are all those nominations for The Studio, which, as a show-business satire, would give a hefty side-eye to the whole process.
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