America’s Most Captivating Couples 2007
Daria “Deno” Orechwa
27, Graduate Student/Youth Services Counselor
Ingrid “Inno” Dahl
26, Rock Musician/Editor/GO Writer/Founding Member of the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls
San Francisco, CA & Jersey City, NJ
Deno and Inno met at Rutgers University in (year). Today, Deno is a graduate student at San Francisco State, and assists queer teens at the Huckleberry House shelter. Her goal is to open a queer community center someday with its own thrift store. At the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, Inno also works with teens—managing their bands and teaching them to play different instruments. In addition, she’s a writer for GO and plays in the groups Boyskout, The 303s, and Lismore. This couple, who say they “like to make out and lay on each other everywhere we go,” are currently in a long-distance relationship. What keeps it on track? “Teamwork; consideration; independence; admiration; text messages; imaginary scenarios; missing one another; extreme cuteness; generosity; and phenomenal sex.”
It was difficult to narrow down the entries, but we finally did it–and the result is the year’s most captivating couples! Ranging from a historic preservationist to a superhero to a TV talk show host (times two), it’s great to see so many proud women, not just in love, but spreading that love around and making the world a brighter place. Their stories inspired us, and we know they’ll inspire you, too. Say hello to this year’s sweethearts.
SUSAN & RACHEL
Susan Mikula
48, Artist
Rachel Maddow
33, Talk Radio Host for Air America
New York City & West Cummington, MA
Susan and Rachel met in April 1999 when Susan hired Rachel to do some work on her yard. They describe it as “love at first sight, comets, explosions, the whole bit,” Rachel has her own talk show on Air America, and Susan is an artist. The pair is in a long-distance relationship but manage to see each other four nights a week (more than some couples who live in the same state!). Though we picked them as one of our captivating couples, these two say “it’s hard to think of yourself as captivating. We kind of think of ourselves as cute nerds who found each other by chance.” However, they agree that they drive fast, spend a lot and drink a lot — and that that is “kind of captivating in its own way.”
