i didn't realize that law and order would cause such a stir. let me clarify: i have nothing agianst people who like law and order, and i don't mind it once in a while, but it's not really my favorite and i don't want to watch it all the time. i didn't mean to choose such a hot-button issue...

it's finals week. so it's the best week of the year for me, because i get to sit at my desk and watch my students squirm in pain. then they leave at 10:45 and i get to go out to lunch and have the rest of the afternoon free. it's the life. the downside is that i have to grade all the final exams.

today one of my students was wearing a shirt that said "attention ladies: underneath this shirt is the man of your dreams." it was pretty funny. plus, the kid is really nice so it wasn't pervy or obnoxious. if one of the assholes had worn it i wouldn't have found it amusing.

there are two kinds of high school students. those who do something they're not supposed to with one eye on the teacher at all times because they're waiting to get in trouble and those who either don't realize they shouldn't be doing what they're doing or--more likely--don't care. those who don't keep an eye on the teacher are more fun. partly, i have to respect them for not being pansies, and partly because i get to stare at them for 5 minutes until they realize that i'm doing so and then they feel stupid because the entire class is following my line of sight.

so i'm reading a book about the wives of henry VIII and i just found out that one of the gifts he gave to anny boleyn before he divorced catherine of aragon was venison. nothing says "i love you" like dead deer. nothing. that henry, he was a romantic, i tell ya...

so i'm obsessed with gilmore girls and rory has bangs and i really want to ge bangs because hers are so cute and winter is really the best time to get bangs because your forehead is less likely to sweat and make your bangs all gross, and then (ideally) they'll be grown out enough to go behind my ears by this summer, when it is hot and they will get all gross against my forehead. but i've gotten bangs before and i like them for approximatley 14 minutes and then they get on my nerves. and i have to keep in mind that she has someone whose job it is to do her hair each morning and make it look perfect, and it's probably got enough hairspray to last motley crue a week in 1987 so that the bangs stay perfect all day long, and i don't. but i still want bangs...

i hate the word bangs. i really think that as a society we should be able to come up with a better word for it/them. why are they called bangs? because they bang against your forehead? because they make you want to bang your head into a wall when they won't stay out of your eyes? because they were popular with head-banging hair bands? (the last one was a bit of a stretch). and it just sounds dumb. and the more you say it, the dumber it sounds.

the other day i was watching gilmore girls (shock of all shocks) and rory was reading the book a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, and i was proud because that's a book i read a few years ago. it made me smart.

so the american idol tryout shows are one this week, and i don't like watching them. i know for many people those 4-8 hours of television are the highlight of the year, but i just dont' enjoy it. how many times can you watch someone suck at singing before it gets boring? not many if you're me.

i think i was paid a compliment at lunch today. somehow we got to talking about how well our department gets along and someone said something about brandon, one of the other new teachers. he's the same age as me. rob, my department chair said something about how young he is, and i started to say that he's the same age as me. rob then said that he's much younger than me, even though we're the same age. i think he was calling me mature. he's really really wrong, but it was nice nonetheless.

i also got a compliment from my insurance guy. there have been multiple problems with my insurance (another sarah nolan in indianapolis wrecked a mazda in 2004 and they keep wanting it to be me to make my insurance cost more, and then today i checked out my bank statement online and found that my insurance had taken $400.00 out of my account even though we'd agreed not to make any payments until the mess was taken care of) and i called my insurance guy to try and get the problems solved and at the end of it he said i'd been great through all this, even though there had been multiple opportunities for me to yell and scream and i hadn't once and he appreciated it and i was a great customer. now he could have been just kissing my ass, but i choose to belive that it was sincere. too bad he's short.

did anyone else see peter jackson at the golden globes? holy 150 pound weight loss batman! and he's lost the glasses. still needs to comb his hair.

last night i decided it would be a good idea to drink a soda at 8:30 pm. needless to say i didn't sleep well. stupid caffeine...

i need a new message for my voicemail and i want something funny, but not something that says "i'm 16" but still shows my personality (which, coincidently, is fairly close to that of a 16-year-old). since it's my only phone number i sometimes get "real" phone calls on that phone and i don't want a ridiculous message. any ideas?

i don't really have anything else...