Clarissa Grunwald

@clarissagrunwald

Full time librarian, sometime writer, theater kid of the pit orchestra variety. I also like TTRPGs.

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Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· 10d

Sign at Eastern State Penitentiary museum in Philadelphia

A red sign reading: you're very unusual. About 70% of American adults have committed a crime that could lead to prison. Most of us will never experience arrest, trial or prison. Why is that?

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· 20d

Worldbuilding in Progress

A map painted on packing paper, currently just some blue and brown denoting lakes and mountains

The same map, now there are green spaces and buildings

Same map, more green, more buildings. To be continued...

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jul 10

I hardly ever write poems, and I submit them places even less often, so maybe I'll just start posting them on here. Eat up, text scrapers. #writesky

The goddess of tragedy does not love you. / When you pray to her, she preys back. Her answer / is echo. Her hymns resolve. You don't have to / go into the wilderness to find her. She rises up / like the sun above the desert, scorching soil into / sand, and she doesn't love you. Even though / It feels like she might. Even though she strikes / like an arrow list from a bow, like a first meeting / with a stranger who will change your life forever / even though, if you let her, she will tell you like a parable / all the way to the end.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jul 8

I told my mom I was going to be playing Vampire the Masquerade and she showed me her garlic collection.

Garlic, freshly picked and uncleaned, curing on a piece of cardboard.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jun 24

Doing normal stuff for my normal job

A teddy bear that has been dissected, with a build-a-bear voice recorder inserted into a red pocket in its chest.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· May 12

Rehearsing a play in one of the actors' basements, and when we're done we get to play with this cat.

A partially-shaved long-haired cat with a smooshed face and a cataract in one eye. He is looking at the camera like he hasn't been begging for attention, which is a lie

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Mar 23

The nonfiction kick continues, I'm about halfway through this one now and already recommending it to people. Nature is wild y'all #booksky

Book cover of Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jan 26

Snow day at the college, but I'm at the library and so is Paulina

A plastic dinosaur stands by a miniature snowman

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Dec 25

It's Christmas quick post Paollo Uccello's fucked up baby Jesus

A painting in which Mary, with a dubious expression, gingerly holds a lunging and goblinlike baby Jesus. Both have halos that look like mechanical apparatuses

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Nov 15

It feels almost insulting to describe a thoughtful, carefully-written memoir about a difficult and under-discussed topic (queer partner abuse) as "super readable" but, it is. It's all of those things. #booksky

Cover of "In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Nov 12

Made one-page TTRPGs with my class! They're pretty neat.

A display table showcasing a number of one-page ttrpgs

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Nov 10

Finished this one while working at the polls Tuesday. At its best, it's nightmarish, unreliably narrated, weird in the best way. But certain quirks of the writing style didn't quite agree with me...it may have benefitted from a final editing pass. Overall, 3.5/5 #booksky

The cover of "Midnight Rooms" by Donyae Coles, depicting a young black woman in a green dress holding a fawn and a teacup. Butterflies emerge from the teacup.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Oct 6

My wealthiest friend has a mortgage

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Aug 31

I read this title wrong

An article from the Journal of Low Temperature Physics entitled "A theory of temperature-dependent energy levels: Thermodynamic properties of He 11"

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jul 18

If nothing else I feel like I've accurately represented what happens to the human brain when in proximity to a cat #writesky #musicaltheater

A screenshot of a script containing the lyrics "Princess, Princess Sashimi / You are so fluffy / You are a sweetie / You are a baby / you are a kitty/ Princess Sashimi / Princess Sashimi"

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jul 16

This is going to be one of the ones I recommend to everyone. A really good monster story, cleverly intertwined with small-town lesbian romance, beautifully written. #booksky

The cover of the novel "Feast While You Can" by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jul 2

I've been doing some reading about #AI in preparation for a class and AI Snake Oil by is the one I would rec thus far. Too many writings about AI feel like they were hastily written & are already out of date. This is a very interesting and well-thought-through book. #booksky

Cover of the book "AI Snake Oil" by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jun 30

Busy day at ALA #supportourlibraries

Clarissa, a woman in a yellow shirt, stands with a sign reading "IMLS can't be here. So we need to show up for our libraries."

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jun 30

Most of my reading has been nonfic lately but did finish galley for "Beasts of Carnaval". Beautiful imagery. Story w/ twists and nuances. The early middle stretch, where the narration gets dreamlike and unreliable, is v clever. I hope this is 1 of those YA fantasies that really takes off #booksky

Book cover for "Beasts of Carnaval" by Rosália Rodrigo featuring a fanged face surrounded with flowers.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Apr 22

The #library is beset by vultures (not a metaphor) so facilities put a balloon guy on the roof to scare them away and you can see it through the skylights.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Apr 9

Finished my gally for Wearing the Lion in the nick of time last week, then forgot to review. Anyway, it's decent but didn't live up to my high expectations. Maybe that's on me for liking "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" too much. The characters felt a little flat...

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Mar 15

Indivisible Town Hall that Rep. Lloyd Smucker was too chickenshit to show up to. #indivisible #lancaster @lancasteronline.bsky.social @wgal8.bsky.social @indivisible.org

Crowd of people in downtown Lancaster, holding signs.

Crowd of people in downtown Lancaster, holding signs. The centermost sign reads "They are eating the checks, They are eating the balances"

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Mar 2

I love high school theater! These kids did so good!!! #musicaltheater

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Feb 21

Do this and then, if doing this means you save money, invest that money into organizations that serve your community. There's a lot of people doing good work--shelters, food banks, bail funds, civil rights groups--and they need $. Scare the banks, help the helpers. #economicblackout

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Feb 11

He is complete! Biblically accurate beefcakes #3 #art

A sweatshirt decorated with a quilted/embroidered sexy construction worker with disjoined limbs and tentacles emerging from his back and legs. Disembodied hands grasp his ankles.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Feb 11

Finished audio book for The Eye of the World (1st in Wheel of Time series.) I'm sure it's some sort of faux pas to compare high fantasy titles to Lord of the Rings but, well, it's very much like LotR. But with more prophecies. And female characters. And fantasy gender roles. #booksky

Cover of the book "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Feb 5

Just finished audiobook of Babel. I love a really immersive historic fantasy and this one is a very interesting celebration/critique of Oxford specifically, and academia generally. Can't get into the ending here without spoilers, so you'll just have to decide for yourself. #booksky

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jan 31

Finished my Netgalley for Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi. +: Fantastical element is unexpected and striking. World fleshed out with language, politics, history. -: Scenes change very quickly between chapters in a way that sometimes feels rushed/confusing. Some scenes feel unfinished. #booksky

Book cover for Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi. A man looks up at a woman floating in a stormy sky.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jan 27

BEAUTYLAND X SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN A doppelganger comes of age, and so does her childhood best friend, a monster hunter determined to destroy her. #2025pit #A #H #F #LGBT

A robin's egg, cracked, revealing blackness. Entitled "Cowbird"

An excerpt from the book "Cowbird", on a blurred forest background. The excerpt reads:

They find the shells of two cowbird eggs a few days later, broken in the woodpile. One is just cracked, mostly whole. Through the break in the other egg, Valentine can see the cowbird, pinkish, partially-formed. She tries to show Mira, but Mira doesn't want to look.

"What do you think happened?" she asks. She puts her face right up to the crack, close enough to see the shape of its beak and one black, lidded-over eye.

"Maybe the robin figured it out."

Valentine thinks about this. She peeks one more time into the broken shell. Then she drops the whole egg into a gap in the woodpile. "Good," she says.

Clarissa Grunwald@clarissagrunwald· Jan 19

Here's the original, he decorates the back of a vest I thrifted. I love him dearly. #art #crafting