see as i saw

There's something about East Lansing, Michigan.  Despite chalking up a loss, I loved being on campus and spending those three hours inside Spartan Stadium.  Two years between visits is much too long.

I spent a little time waxing nostalgic, finding comfort in the familiarity and minimally changed environs.  Then I spent a lot of time feeling old.  College kids look so young and their conversations are on such a different plane.  And all I could do was shake my head at how identically nearly every female dressed.

The staple fashion item is black leggings.  If you're really sassy, they're made of that shiny black "look at me" lycra (although, skintight leggings already yell for attention).  Since we're at a crossroads of seasons, your footwear options are twofold: Sperry's or riding boots.  Don't forget to wear a tiny tee, bare midriff optional.

Maybe it's the sense of community and camaraderie that I feel among a group of people with a shared passion.  Perhaps it's the nearly six years of my life spent there.  Regardless, being in that atmosphere almost makes me want to reconsider that PhD notion.  There's something tempting about spending time in the collegiate world.

Then I remember that I'm five to ten years older than the majority of the population, and there isn't really much to do in East Lansing outside of that social sphere.  Sure, I could go to another university in a more diverse city.  The odds just seem slim that I would find myself quite so devoted and passionate.

Instead I'll follow the same path as many other alumni, trekking back to East Lansing when I can to revel in the sea of green and white.  There's a chance that I'll make it back one more time this season, for the Homecoming game.  I suppose that would be an acceptable make good for missing last year completely.

I know that I'm not the only person who tuned into the Olympics closing ceremony in anticipation of the Spice Girls' reunion performance.  There's a good chance that other people also flashed back to the choreographed scene from She's All That, with Usher as the DJ, when Fatboy Slim appeared in a giant octopus at the Olympic Stadium.

I've always been so intrigued with the way music attaches itself to memories and life stages.  In an instant, my mood can deviate based on four minutes of recorded sounds.

Without fail, probably for the rest of my life, the sounds of NSYNC will revive a feeling of simple innocence.  "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" has my days of serving tables at Lone Star written all over it.  Mariah Carey's "Emotions" reminds me of the constant battle for jukebox dominance that my brothers and I carried out in my grandparents' basement.

I'm also consistently amazed at the sheer quantity of song lyrics that are catalogued away in my brain. It seems that I could be storing more pertinent information than start to finish lyrics for a Savage Garden song from 1997.

So, you're thinking to yourself, "This is clearly not Lauren's most awe-inspiring photo."  I'm agreeing with you.  However, it does properly convey how I spent my day.  There are some things that can come between me and prematurely beautiful spring weather; March Madness is one of those things.  My day was inspired by NCAA basketball, therefore my lens was too.

My afternoon was a pretty successful one, as brackets go.  I took my first hit tonight, due to a game where I ignored my gut.  I think there are a couple more still to come tonight.  At the end of the day, what it really boils down to is that Champion circle in the center.  Call me biased, but I have the Spartans taking it all the way to the end of the Big Dance.  I think they have a fighting chance to bring those New Orleans hardwoods back to East Lansing. Their journey begins at 8:20pm tomorrow; you'll find me talking back to the TV and biting my nails.  Who needs St. Patrick's Day drunk-fest when you can have a March Madness weekend.