Thoughts & Stuff Volume 1: 2010 to 2011

By Graham Hall

A free collection of some of (what I think is) my best work from my blog Thoughts & Stuff. Ranging from game reviews, to my somewhat crazy opinions of the tech world, and even a few life observations thrown in for a good measure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Graham Hall
• Release date: Nov 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466035591

Book preview

Thoughts & Stuff Volume 1: 2010 to 2011

By Graham Hall

Copyright 2011 by Graham Hall

Published at Smashwords

Dear Reader,

Hello, my name is Graham Hall, writer and editor (guess which job I suck at more) of the random blog Thoughts & Stuff (formally known as Grahamtastic). I have been blogging on and off since I was in middle school, and I have ran blogs on sites like Angelfire and BlogSpot, as well as hosted my own blogs using WordPress. After all these years I finally drifted to Tumblr in 2010, and this eBook is a compilation of the results.

I have decided to take some of (what I think is) my best work so far on Thoughts & Stuff, and compile it into a single, portable eBook file so that in case something happens to my Tumblr blog (like what has happened to my blogs in the past). I have lost so many years of writing to my own stupidity and the frail nature of technology that I think it’s wise to preserve what I write. Furthermore, I want to make it easy for new readers, and old readers alike, to be able to read my work from the past 2 years.

Everything is presented in chronological order. In order to maintain compatibility with as many eReaders as possible, any important links are written in parenthesis within each piece.

As always, I do this for fun. I don’t ever expect any compensation for my writing, except I do ask my readers that if they feel the need they can donate to the Child’s Play Charity ( http://www.childsplaycharity.org ), a charity founded by gamers to provide toys and games for sick children in hospitals.

If you do like what you read in this eBook, you can always find my latest work on my blog ( http://ghall.tumblr.com ). You can also follow me on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/ghall ) if you’re so inclined.

Please enjoy.

Graham Hall

Hello, I’m a Mac

I’ve always been a Mac user, I literally grew up with Macs. Some of my earliest memories was playing Kid Pix on an SE/30. For a good portion of my life ‘Macintosh’ meant ‘computer’. I didn’t know about Windows, and I certainly had no knowledge of Linux. You might say I was blissfully ignorant.

I have to say I wouldn’t be so passionate about computers if it weren’t for the Macintosh. Something about them was so magical (much like the iPad) that it just drew me in. Sure a majority of my time early in life was dominated by various games, but I was still mesmerized by the awesome power that a computer put right at your finger-tips.

The Mac has always been at the center of my self-discoveries. My interest in web design stemmed from my early experiences with the internet on a Mac (I’ve been coding in HTML since I was 8). My interest in film production came from fiddling with iMovie. My love of music was sparked by the iPod my mom gave me. My passion for design was inspired by the wonderful icons, graphics, and typography present in the Mac, and the rest of Apple’s products. And finally, as I mentioned before, Macs are the reason I love computers, and technology in general.

So yeah, Macs are much more than just computers to me, they represent a life of discovery and wonder. It’s no wonder every time I turn on my MacBook Pro and hear that distinctive start-up chime (bonnnng!) I get a warm feeling in me that I just can’t describe. Mac’s are everything computers should be: they’re simple, secure, and magical.

Oh and about that iPad thing…

Random Musings

I never feel like there’s enough time in a day. I get up at 7AM and before I know it, it’s 12:30AM the next morning. Where did the time go? All I really did was go to work, come home, make dinner, play video games, talk my my girlfriend on the phone and then browse the web. 

Sometimes I think it would be so great to not need sleep. When you think about it, we waste 6-8 hours of every day being unconscious. That’s time that could be spent doing other things, either fun or work. 

Maybe I’m crazy (actually thats probably it), but that’s how I feel about life. I guess the only thing to do is to do as much as possible each and every day. 

Twilight - How I Lost What Little Remained of my Manliness

Tonight I watched Twilight with a friend of mine. It was (and I can’t believe I am about to write this) not that bad. Sure I can name quite a few movies better than Twilight but for what it is, it’s not that bad. Some of the dialog is pretty poor, but it does seem to fit the general cheesiness of the plot.

Basically the movie is about a girl who falls in love with a vampire that only drinks the blood of animals, and sparkles in the sunlight. Not exactly as frightening as Count Dracula or Barnabas Collins (20 internets to anybody who knows who that is), but he does look very creepy…in a pervert-like way.

The film itself is very spastic. One moment it’s all cute and happy, then without warning you’re thrust into a scene with the not-so-nice vampires hunting someone down, then back to happy and cute.

The movie doesn’t really start making any sort of sense until the very end, and even then everything is happening way to fast to keep up. Then just when I was getting into it the movie abruptly ends. I know its just part 1 of a series of movies, but at least give us some closure. I’ve never read the books, so maybe this is how the book ends as well, I have no idea. 

So yeah, it’s not the greatest movie, but it’s a classic case of it’s so bad its good. And while it feels like its just the first act of a much longer story (actually I guess thats pretty much what it is), it has at the very least got me curious to see the next installment. Wow, I can’t believe I just admitted that…

Why Macs Are Better Than Windows (Or Linux)

I know what you’re thinking. Oh boy, another Mac fanboy piece. Well sorry to disappoint. I’m not going