Keeping notes at a table. Why, of what, and how?

[JKDStudent]

So this week, I'm going down to AC. You'd think I'd go more often, living only 45 minutes away, but I digress. Anyway, I'm going to be playing at Harrah's (since that's where the room is) and at the Borgata. Going to start out with 2/4 limit, evaluate, and move on up. So, here comes a slew of questions.

How many of you keep notes when you play live? Of what? Granted, cash in and cash out amounts, but what about play? Do you just makes notes of hands you were in to evaluate later, or do you actually keep notes on players? I have no intention of tightening people up with my little notebook, as I'll make it clear that I'm just "Writing an article for my college paper about poker and since they're paying for half..." Is it even allowed to keep notes at the table?

And as a side question, I'll be going down Thursday afternoon and staying the night. Provided I don't hit a horrible run and bust out, I play on staying down much of Friday and playing as well. What kind of quality should I expect in the games? I know that the weekends, especially at the Borg, are incredibly soft. What about Thursday and Friday nights? Several schools are on spring break now (including mine), but I don't know how much if at all that will affect the limit tables.

Thanks!