I just spent several hours driving in and around Norman, Oklahoma. This is the town that houses the University of Oklahoma, the school I went to and graduated from (in 1990).

By the way, this is no maudlin "you can never really go home again" sort of reflection. While I'm not thrilled at some of the changes that have come to the old alma mater, this was more of a cruise through memory lane than a journey of self-immolation by means of painful recollections. College may not have been the most fun four years of my life, but the good overall outweighed the bad, and most of the places I drove past held good memories. Old apartments I lived in, the comic book store I used to buy my weekly "fix" from. The music center where the marching band formed up on game days, and the dorms I used to live in. Mind you, they're currently building an extension on to the football stadium that just makes me shake my head is resignation, but football has always reigned king here, so I shouldn't be surprised.

One thing I've had fun with is identifying businesses that have thrived and those that have died in the years since I left. A little pizza delivery chain called "Pizza Shuttle" is still in business, despite the proliferation of Dominoes. But the indie record store I used to buy from is gone. The comic store is still there, but under a new name and new management. But there are two new ones in town, as well, a pleasant surprise. And the cut-rate grocery I used to shop at is closed up, with "for lease" signs in the windows. Almost certainly a victim of a new Wal-Mart "Supercenter" store a half-mile north on the same street.

You can always go home. You just can't always expect it to look just like it did 13 years ago.