Apparently, using {}'s when not needed will slow down your scripts to a *very* small degree. In the majority of cases, you will not be able to notice the slower speed even with dozens of scripts loaded. So, in my personal opinion, I think it's better to stick to a standard syntax for everything rather than going back and forth all of the time. I'll use {}'s even when it's all one command on a single line except in rare cases. But that's just me. As long as you only have a single command being done, the {}'s are not necessary unless the code is ambiguous (you can't easily tell what is part of the IF or whatever command and what is being done after).
As for your stuff alias, don't forget to use elseif so every line is not processed...
Well, that depends on what your script is doing.
