San Diego CityBeat picked up the story about Micha Cardenas and her "Becoming Dragon" performance for its current issue, placing particular emphasis on the potential psychological dangers of the project. Cardenas, a UCSD grad student in visual arts, will spend 365 consecutive hours totally immersed in the Second Life virtual world as a means of questioning the one-year requirement for "real-life experience" that transgender people must fulfill in order to receive gender confirmation surgery (Micha is currently undergoing hormone replacement therapy).

For more about the performance, check out Micha's daily blog, browse the "Becoming Dragon" project Web site or read an article on the Calit2 main site.

Even better .... pay Micha a visit in the dragon's lair at the CRCA Visiting Artist Lab 1613, Atkinson Hall. Visiting hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays, and the performance will be ongoing until (more or less) Dec. 17.