To experience the mental state of flow is to create ecstasy over actions, said Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, of Claremont Graduate University who spoke to an audience of 100 in Herter Hall yesterday afternoon

Csikszentmihalyi said he and his students conducted interviews of musicians, composers, writers, poets, and figure skaters to determine aspects of flow. Csikszentmihalyi described the seven aspects to how it feels to be in flow:

Being completely involved in what you are doing - focused, concentrated; a sense of ecstasy-of being outside everyday reality; great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing; knowing that the activity is doable - that our skills are adequate to the task; a sense of serenity - no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego; timelessness - thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes; intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

"The goal has to come from the inside, and nobody can tell you whether it was the right goal," Csikszentmihalyi said.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian - Visiting psychology professor speaks on attaining the mental state of flow

So you wake up one day and realize your taste in music sucks. And obviously, that means you suck as well. You're tired, frustrated, hopelessly unhip, and you're very sick of your Winamp playlist. But wait...... before you pull that trigger, consider this.

You need hip hop and you need it fast.

For your sake, I've set up a "How to be a backpacker" kit that's so easy, virtually anybody can do it. Don't worry. You'll be in touch with the little b-boy inside of you in no time. After this kit, you'll be keeping it so real that only other backpackers will understand a word you spit. So what are we waiting for? Let's begin.

How To Be a Backpacker

] "According to Denise Gray-Felder, VP of communications
] for the Rockefeller Foundation, "Americans persist in
] operating like a nation of ignorants." She has noticed in
] her international travels that foreignors are far better
] educated on world affairs than U.S. peers. She attributes
] this to a cut back in U.S. media coverage of foreign
] news."

More information showing how paying attention to the U.S. mainstream media is going to make you dumber.

'Anti-Americanism' is on the Rise

] "Last June, President George W. Bush signed the Economic
] Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
] (EGTRRA). This policy brief provides an assessment of the
] tax cut. Our findings suggest that EGTRRA will reduce the
] size of the future economy, raise interest rates, make
] taxes more regressive, increase tax complexity, and prove
] fiscally unsustainable. These conclusions question the
] wisdom and affordability of the tax cut and suggest that
] Congress reconsider the legislation, especially in light
] of the economic downturn and terrorist attacks that have
] occurred since last summer. "
] ...
] Thus, the principal distributional effect of EGTRRA is
] a tax cut for the top 1 percent of households that is
] disproportionate relative to every criteria noted in
] table 1. This tax cut comes immediately after a
] twenty-year period in which the both the pre- and
] post-tax income of the top 1 percent grew much faster
] than for any other group of households.

I love the way Americans blindly put their faith in the illiterate ramblings of a religious fanatic like Dubya.

The Bush Tax Cut: One Year Later

Hijexx wrote:
] Interesting analysis of news stories from 10 different media
] outlets. Passages are quoted from 1998 and 2002. All of
] these passages relate to the big lie that UN weapons
] inspectors were expelled from Iraq in 1998. It's a bold
] faced lie being propagated by the following
] culprits:
]
] ABC News
] NBC News
] Associated Press, The
] Los Angeles Times, The
] National Public Radio
] Cable News Network
] USA Today
] New York Times, The
] Washington Post, The
] Newsday
]
] Not terribly shocking given the corporate media consolidation
] in the last decade (what are we down to now, like 4 or 5 major
] holding corporations?) but I've never seen it laid out in such
] a clear, concise before and after format.
]
] Kill your television. Kill your radio. Free the internet.

What is shocking is that most people when confronted with this kind of information usually blow it off as an isolated incident.

Wake up people. You should question everything the mainstream media tells you.

RE: History, recovered

snicker

Ding, Fries are Done!

] "A missing chapter from hacker Kevin Mitnick's recent
] book has been published on the Internet."

After nearly a decade, Mitnick's voice is heard.

Wired News: Mitnick's 'Lost Chapter' Found

This flyer was found in Baltimore...

How to convince poor people not to vote...

blueraccoon wrote:
] this is a friend of mine's kitten. i almost fell out of my
] chair when i saw this.

Classic.

RE: cat in a pint glass

I can't believe how bad this turned out. Worst than my expectations. I'll hold my breath for the two years until the next Presidential elections, but if Bush wins again (God Help Us!) and retains control of Congress I fully expect to see some incredible rollbacks of personal freedom and liberty. Bush as a lame duck with a Republican controlled Congress frightens me like nothing else in this world.

Yes, rollbacks that are even worse than what we have seen to date.

Seriously considering my overseas living options at this point.

Republicans Seize Control of Congress