Forgive our lax attitude with the Arts Agenda of late, as we've been experiencing a few staff changes around here and are still working out the scheduling kinks. That being said, all of DCist would like to extend a hearty thank you to Cyndi Spain, who has decided to retire from her DCist arts duties to focus on being a busy career woman and a doting bride. Good luck, Cyndi!

The Arts Agenda will return to its regular Tuesday slot next week, and I'll be slowly revamping its style and content as I go, so all comments during the transition are warmly welcomed.

The Sweetest Thing: Thanks to reader Augustin for pointing us to Mark Jenkins' latest tape-based street installation. Looks like Jenksy has turned a series of D.C. parking meters into lollipops (pictured). Perhaps he thought a sweeter offering was in order after the stink he caused last time around? The Wooster Collective has more photos, you can see more of Jenkins work (including his infamous "tape men" here. Yes, Jenkins occassionally strikes us as gimmicky, but we admit it -- we're pretty thrilled at the prospect of using "art" as a defense in a parking ticket hearing.

The Current Lowdown: A handful of big openings in the last week brought the city's art community out en masse. In case you missed any of them, DC Art News has a great series of photos from the Interface: Art & Technology opening at Fraser Gallery Bethesda (through Feb. 8), Grammar.police has documented the mayhem and destruction caused by unsupervised children and their devil parents at the Sculpture Unbound opening at the Edison Gallery, and Thinking About Art has an excellent rundown of current shows at Dupont Cirlce area galleries from last week.

One Man's Trash: Is another man's Trashball! The omnipresent Chris Goodwin has installed an old-school vending machine over at Warehouse Next Door that dispenses what the artist has dubbed Trashballs, which are those same little domes you used to buy cheap plastic jewelry in at the local Putt-Putt arcade. Except instead of a mood ring, a Trashball! machine serves up, well, some of Goodwin's trash for your 25 cents. Rubber gloves not included.

Affordable Housing in DC: ArtDC.org has the scoop on the Arch Development Corp.'s new Artist-in-Residency Program, which apparently plans to offer cheap live/work spaces to D.C. area artists. Considering average housing costs in the District, a program like this couldn't come at a more opportune time.

When One Door Closes: So does another one? On the heels of the final opening night at the influential Fusebox gallery, Fraser Gallery in Georgetown is also hosting its final soiree this Friday before closing its doors for good. I think it's safe to say neither of these closings spell any kind of waning of the strength of the local arts scene, however. Fusebox's owners is simply are moving to San Francisco, and another gallery will no doubt swoop in and take over its space right quick. And Catriona Fraser and Lennox Campello are just shifting their focus to the Fraser in Bethesda. But make sure and visit these fine local establishments before they are gone.

See You There: Current exhibitions we're dying to check out include Arlene Schechet, Katherine Sherwood, and A.J. Bocchino at Hemphill Fine Arts, and Assimilation/Dissolution, featuring works by Jeffery Cudlin, Christopher Hoeting and Jefferson Pinder at Flashpoint, opening tonight.