Rae's Pages: All About Me

First off, a small disclaimer of sorts - this particular page is going to be a complete and uninhibited indulgence of my vanity. I'm going to write about me, me, and, oh let me think, me. So if you're not interested in reading someone else's ramblings about her life story, well... you know where the 'back' button is! Now, open throttle....

My full name is Rachel Cornelia Paarlberg, which means "lamb,ram's horn, pearl mountain." (And, for the record, although my dad 'gave me a perfectly good name,' most everyone calls me Rae. Please do the same!) But yes, my parents went for themes when they named us... my sister's name means "purity, wisdom," my brother's name means "beloved and humble," and me? Sheep. (This does not mean, however, that I have a thing for Scotsmen. Now, Scotswomen, on the other hand...!)

I'm sure you've gotten one of those silly little email surveys before... the kind all of your friends send you, filled with trivial facts about their lives that you don't really care about... and they want you to fill in your own trivial facts and send it back to them... who really cares, right? Well, don't say I didn't warn you about the purpose of this page - I've compiled several of those surveys, so if you want to know all those trivial facts about me, visit http://www.melm.org/~mosi/survey.html.

I was born on October 16, 1978, making me (at the time of the last update, at least) 24 years old and a Libra: according to popular belief, a gentle, well-balanced lover of art and music. Librans are generally diplomatic and urbane, romantic and charming, easygoing and sociable, and idealistic and peaceable. On the negative side, they are also indecisive and changeable, gullible and easily influenced, and flirtatious (wait, that's a bad thing?) and self-indulgent (but you knew that by now, right?). While I don't believe in astrology (well, except for those times I need a good excuse... you know, "the planets made me do it!"), I have to admit that this is a pretty accurate - if superficial - description of me.

My personality type (MBTI) is iNFp (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving), and I'm about as strong an iNFp as you can get - literally off the charts. This means that I'm a Healer and an Idealist: cooperative, shy, and seemingly tranquil, although a calm exterior often conceals inward passions. The iNFp has a strong sense of idealism and morality, a tendency to be highly imaginative and fantastical, and seeks unity in all aspects of his or her life.
I was born in Holland, Michigan and grew up in North Syracuse, New York. During junior high and high school, I lived (because of my dad's job) in Glen Rock, New Jersey (a place with, imnsho, too many people and not enough snow). I have two parents, two younger siblings (one of each gender, although Katie does sometimes talk about going in for that electroshock therapy...). We have a dog, Snickers (spaniel et al mix) and... ummm... rabbits. We started with three (Paco, Owen - female in spite of the name, and Cecilia). Then after a while we had Paco, Owen, Fur-head, and Carpet-head (I claim no responsibility for their appelations.) Then it was Paco, Owen, Fur-head, Carpet-head, Moab, Ammon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Right now we have a total of... five rabbits? Maybe six? I know that Paco (aka Israel) is still living, as are Moab and Ammon. One of the rabbits from the fiery furnace is around, and I think one more, but I don't remember which one. (Hey, it's hard to keep track from halfway across the country!)
I remedied the "too-many-people-and-not-enough-snow" problem by moving to Northfield, Minnesota to attend St. Olaf College, where I double-majored in English and Religion and sang alto in the St. Olaf Cantorei. To pay for my toothpaste and DayQuil, I worked in the Howard H. and Edna V. Hong Kierkegaard Memorial Library.
I graduated (Cum Laude, even... will wonders never cease?) from St. Olaf in May of 2000, and since I didn't know what else to do with my life, I just kept right on going to school, getting an M.A. from the Lutheran School of Theology in June of 2002. My addictions are now a bit more expensive than DayQuil, but I still need to buy toothpaste once in a while, so I work for the Web of Creation, a Christian eco-justice website.This is part time student employment, and since I'm very nearly done being a student (i.e. two more weeks), I'm currently looking for a full-time job.
My interests include strange things like translating Koine Greek, as well as other more common strange things like Sci-Fi, Gaming, the SCA, strange and eclectic varieties of music, NPR, embroidery, and doing things in the kitchen other than cleaning (hey now, get your mind out of the gutter. I like to cook! Food!). If you really want to know more about such nonsense, then browse your way through the rest of the site... believe me, I'm not even close to done indulging my vanity!