Kris' Vocabulary and Style

Sometimes people have called me out on it, but there seem to be certain words I use relatively frequently. These aren't words one would use all the time, but I do notice them when I do. Partly because people have brought them to my attention.

vacillate /ˈvæ.sə.leɪt/, /ˈvæ.sɪ.leɪt/

1. (intransitive) To sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate. 
2. (intransitive) To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another. 

I'd used this just today in an e-mail to one of my co-workers, and it was then I'd decided this would be today's blog topic.


simultaneously (UK): /ˌsɪməlˈteɪnɪəsli/; (US) /ˌsaɪməlˈteɪnɪəsli/

This is the one on which people usually remark, partly because I've grown up -- and continue to -- pronouncing/pronounce it the UK way rather than the US/American way.

Other words people tend to notice because I don't sound quite American saying them:

• process  /ˈpɹoʊ̯.sɛs/ as if I were Canadian;
• Internet (and pretty much a lot of words with "nt" between vowels): I pronounce the "t", so it's  /ˈɪntɚˌnɛt/ rather than /ˈɪɾ̃ɚˌnɛt/.

iteration /ɪɾəɹˈeɪʃən/

1. Recital or performance a second time; repetition.
2. A variation or version.
3. (computing) The use of repetition in a computer program, especially in the form of a loop.
4. (computing) A single repetition of the code within such a repetitive process.

Especially the second definition.

Well, I suppose those are the only few that really come to mind right now.

My pronunciation is pretty all over the place, generally. It happens in my Spanish, too.

As far as my style, I've unfortunately embraced the lots-of-thoughts-in-a-short-stream method. My French teacher would comment frequently that I try to say too much too quickly. I use parenthetical asides a lot in even semi-professional writing. I also use hyphenate thought streams (like in my first sentence) quite a bit.

I tend to be passive voice-averse; this is my English teachers' faults. I remember reading an article about passive voice structures fairly recently and have been even more conscious about it. It may be partly because one of my co-workers is a serial passive voice user in writing and speech; it annoys me a little because I come across her writings every day (but it's just a personal choice of mine that I try to avoid passive voice).

I rarely have short sentences, and connect my clauses fairly frequently in the most grammatical ways I can. It may be another symptom of my expressing multiple thoughts in a single stream. Equally symptomatic, it seems, is my trying to use a word in every iteration (there I go again).

I suppose that's just another part of being me, exploring what it is to be human even though I really dislike being human a good deal of the time.

Reading and Writing

Somehow, I don't really feel like I write enough, even though it's not my occupation, it's not something keeping me at complete peace, and neither does it edify others generally. I have little thoughts throughout the day, and then it's silence, essentially.

I'd gone though a stage at the beginning of this month where I'd read three books in five days (shocking for a book nibbler, and yet I have one book I'd not been reading quite as diligently.

It might be that there's more to take in with this current one.

I'm considering doing NaNoWriMo, and so I'm going to have to get back into scheduled free-writing. I need to keep sharp.

Why I Love My Phone in 1500 Characters

I've submitted this to a "Your Story" column, just because I felt like this... Seriously, do you guys use your phone much? I want to hear from you! What do you do with your phone? Is it just something you talk on, or is it your all-in-all?

My phone has become almost irrefutably my life, partly because of the portability, usability and because of the myriad of applications I've used to expand the usability. I go on the Internet roughly 5-8 times a day exclusively on my phone, upload content all the time to my blogs, read my news from it, access all four of my e-mail accounts... Seriously, about 99% of my Twitter updates and responses alone come from my phone.
What I like most about my phone, though, is that it's helped me enormously with my quest to become ever greener by nearly eliminating my casual paper usage.I was going to an afternoon meeting with my boss, his assistant and the corporate auditor, and when everyone was bringing a pad and paper to take notes, here I was with Julianus (what I call my phone affectionately). While everyone was writing notes the "old-fashioned way," this self-proclaimed 21st Century boy was typing away, adding to a task I'd set up and making notes for later. It may take longer, but I've taken pride in the fact that I've decreased paper usage by one more person.
I was in another meeting that required a lot of reference material. While everyone else, it seems, was plodding away trying to find a specific text, I'd already scanned the texts to my Documents application earlier and had all the answers and references right there. I could answer questions a lot more efficiently than the others because the information was right there, and without all the weight!
I *love* my phone.

Apple unveils 'thinnest iPod yet'

BBC NEWS Technology: I'm certain you've already heard about this one... However, it's really the style of writing in this case I'm bringing to question. There's a flipping of consistency in writing style where I almost thing multiple people wrote the various segments of this article.

Let me know what you think. Am I just imagining it?