Around here, most of us have heard the story of La Llorona. Maybe some of us have even prudently, if sadistically, shared the story to deter younger siblings from swelling arroyos after a storm. Maybe we’ve even considered the legend of the star-crossed wailing wretch during this summer’s unexpurgated, unabridged Casey Anthony Carnival Cruise. Fact is, with the tragic stories of filicide in recent history, La Llorona has become the go-to metaphor folks pull out, as if it were some novel idea no one’s thought of. It’s become as predictable as tomorrow’s rainless forecast. The irony is that what we can’t foretell or even begin to comprehend is a mother murdering her child.

Sam Shepard’s break-out play, Buried Child, runs like a family sitcom plot gone horribly wrong. Young, optimistic Vince brings his girlfriend with him to rural Illinois to patch things up with his wacky, dysfunctional family. A horrible secret tears the family apart. Hilarity fails to ensue.

The Classic Theatre’s new production emphasizes the thwarted comedy.

Casually dressed in a Chicano-flavored fedora, George Cisneros mingles with the crowd during intermission to make sure spectators are enjoying themselves at the Josiah Youth Media Festival, a three-day showcase of 40 films by filmmakers 21 and younger. As the music and media director of URBAN-15 Studio on South Presa, he feels he has a "social contract" with San Antonio to offer cutting-edge, thought-provoking cinema. He also enjoys putting audiences and artists together that normally wouldn't find one another. Judging by the fresh mix of demographics, which included patrons from Floresville, Pleasanton, Boerne and New Braunfels, one might surreptitiously grab a score card, give a quick look around and scribble, Cisneros 1, skeptics 0.

I don’t go to the library much these days. There was a time, before Netflix, that I really appreciated the selection of movies available at the Central Library. This is how I was introduced to Antonioni, Bergman, Buñuel, Ichikawa, and several of the other great, pretentious directors I came to love. The last time I tried to check out a book, a few months ago, I learned that I had a $15 fine on my account, and since they wouldn’t accept payment by credit card, I left the book behind. As I write this, I still owe the library $15.

My experiences are not unique, and the San Antonio Public Library’s new draft strategic plan demonstrates a clear-eyed awareness of the threats of a world increasingly indexed by search engines, and a public that increasingly expects fast, convenient access to information.