Yep. Words are meant to be used. There’s usually a pretty clear difference between clear and concise communication and being a thesaurus superstar.

Also, words are fun. There are people that just genuinely like learning about words and their origins.

(Most of these are pretty normal words to use and you shouldn’t make a conscious effort to avoid them because some guy on the internet thinks you’re pretentious.)

Trying to self-improve in a method that, regardless of its objective effectiveness, makes you feel satisfied and has no discernable effect on those around you?

Not if I can help it!

What exactly is FFMPEG an alternative to? I keep hearing people mention it, but I’ve never stopped to look into it until now.

I tend to do some very basic video editing just to put an image with an audio file so I can upload my music to YouTube. This can do what I need it to do? To what degree can this replace a video editor with a full graphical interface?

Edit: Nevermind. I definitely misunderstood what the tool was at a fundamental level. Got it now.

Supreme beef chalupas.

My saying, as it relates to Taco Bell, is: “It’s shit, but it’s good shit.”

Yeah. I never considered that this wouldn’t be normal, though. I kinda always had a “healthier than average” palate throughout my childhood as well as doing physical activities, and maybe the discernment comes from that as you’re suggesting.

Is there anyone in particular you’ve spoken to that doesn’t have this sense?

It’s such a great concept and the lumatone is beautiful execution. Hopefully I can start saving for one sometime this decade.

In my opinion that’s a pretty generous list of reasons to buy a game without much further questioning or research. I think the last game I almost immediately bought ~10 minutes after hearing about it was YOMI Hustle for $5 in May of last year.

That said, looking through my purchase history I can tell you that the amount I have spent on Warframe, a F2P game, is vile.

If you don’t have a particular need for lyrics, or lyrics that you can understand (presumably), I’ve got a few for you.

Nyokabi Kariũki - Nazama | (Bandcamp) > YT Link

Aivi & Surasshu - Mika | (Bandcamp) > YT Link

The following is a very short performance for a promotional video for the Lumatone keyboard, but I have it saved in my playlist because of how beautiful it is.

Lumatone performance (YT Link)

I think it demonstrates the vastness of the musical realm by splitting the notes we typically associate with western music into different (and often more numerous) divisions of the octave. One of the best applications of this besides getting that ethereal feeling is that it allows you to explore intervals to a finer degree i.e. achieve cleaner melodic and harmonic tones that are mathematically pleasing to the human ear and mind. This whole concept is called microtonality if anyone is interested. And to your question, OP, I think searching in this area can help you find some of that cosmic, alternative sound you’re looking for.

I know I got a little bit away from the question here, but getting into the microtonal/xenharmonic realm was so magical for me because while I enjoy your typical music theory teachings, I’m very much on the more scientific side of things, and music has always been that intriguing intersection between the indiscriminate and cosmic nature of mathematics and the emotional and beautifully flawed nature of artistic expression. Finding the community and literature around xenharmonic music helped me find my way of exploring music in a way that comes naturally to me.

Edit: One that’s a little more “energetic” that I always get lost in. The entire album is great, but this track in particular - Homestuck: Medium - Frogs (YT Link)

Instagram differs from Reddit in the sense that most people use Instagram because that’s where their friends and family are. You’re posting more personal things there. An alternative doesn’t really work for most users if no one they know is using it. Good luck with the push, though.