diff --git a/notibox.el b/notibox.el
index 945ab57..6ae3a64 100644
--- a/notibox.el
+++ b/notibox.el
@@ -59,9 +59,10 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
   (let* (
 	 ;; need to not overlap the gtk scrollbar
 	 (scrollbar-width (or (if (eq x-toolkit-scroll-bars 'gtk)
-				  30) ; wild guess...
+				  30) ; educated guess...
 			      0))
-	 (stackdepth (or stackdepth 0))
+	 ;; (stackdepth (or stackdepth 0))
+	 (stackdepth 0) ; we do not care actually
 	 (parent-width (frame-pixel-width))
 	 (child-width (* notibox-width (string-pixel-width " ")))
 	 (parent-height (frame-pixel-height))
@@ -86,8 +87,8 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 ;; (notibox--get-position 3)
 
 (defun notibox--prepare-buffer (title body &optional buffer)
-  "Populate the `*notibox*' buffer (or BUFFER if specified) with TITLE and BODY properly formatted."
-  (let ((buf (get-buffer-create (or buffer "*notibox*"))))
+  "Return the notibox buffer containing TITLE and BODY, properly formatted"
+  (let ((buf (get-buffer-create (format " *notibox-- %s: %s *" title body))))
     (with-current-buffer buf
       (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
 	(erase-buffer)
@@ -95,7 +96,8 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 			title
 			(propertize (make-string notibox-width ?─)
 				    'face `((:foreground ,notibox-border-color)))
-			body))))))
+			body))))
+    buf))
 ;; (notibox--prepare-buffer "test" "this better work gadahgit" (or nil "*notibox-2*"))
 ;; (get-buffer-create "*notibox-2*")
 ;; wait, we need to be actually basing the things on the buffers huh
@@ -103,19 +105,26 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 (defvar notibox-current-posframes nil)
 (cl-defun notibox--show (&key timeout &key depth &key buf)
   "Show the notibox currently prepared, with optional TIMEOUT, at DEPTH, in BUF."
-  (add-to-list 'notibox-current-posframes
-	       (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create (or buf "*notibox*"))))
-		 (posframe-show buffer
-				:position (notibox--get-position depth)
-				:left-fringe 0
-				:right-fringe 0
-				:max-width notibox-width
-				:max-height notibox-height
-				:min-width notibox-width
-				:min-height notibox-height
-				:border-width 2
-				:border-color notibox-border-color
-				:timeout timeout)))
+  (let ((this-notibox
+	 (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create (or buf "*notibox*"))))
+	   (posframe-show buffer
+			  :position (notibox--get-position depth)
+			  :left-fringe 0
+			  :right-fringe 0
+			  :max-width notibox-width
+			  :max-height notibox-height
+			  :min-width notibox-width
+			  :min-height notibox-height
+			  :border-width 2
+			  :border-color notibox-border-color
+			  ;; :timeout timeout
+			  ))
+	 ))
+    (run-with-timer timeout nil #'notibox-delete this-notibox)
+    (mir/push-notibox this-notibox)
+    ;; (add-to-list 'notibox-current-posframes
+    ;; 		 this-notibox)
+    )
   nil)
 
 (defun notibox-alert (info)
@@ -124,9 +133,10 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 	 (title   (plist-get info :title))
 	 (timeout (plist-get info :persistent))
 	 (depth   (plist-get info :depth)))
-    (notibox--prepare-buffer title message)
+    ;; gotta make it move the others down...
     (notibox--show :timeout (unless timeout alert-fade-time)
-		   :depth (or depth (- (length notibox-current-posframes) 1)))))
+		   ;; :depth (or depth (- (length notibox-current-posframes) 1))
+		   :buf (notibox--prepare-buffer title message))))
 
 (defun notibox--resolve-frame (object)
   "Return the /frame reference/ signified by OBJECT, whatever it may be."
@@ -144,7 +154,7 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 (defun notibox--hide (frame)
   "Stop showing FRAME."
   (if (frame-live-p frame)
-      (posframe-hide (window-buffer (frame-selected-window frame)))))
+      (posframe-delete (window-buffer (frame-selected-window frame)))))
 
 (defun notibox-delete (frame)
   "Delete the notibox FRAME.
@@ -178,14 +188,17 @@ If the source is not obvious, use `current-buffer'."
       (2 (progn
 	   (setq source (car splooted))
 	   (setq contents (cadr splooted))))
+      (3 (progn
+	   (setq source (car splooted))
+	   (setq contents (format "%s: %s" (cadr splooted) (caddr splooted)))))
       )
     ;; (message "[debug] message: %s" msg)
     (cons source contents)))
 ;; (split-string "evil-forward-character: End of line" ": ")
 ;; (length '("evil-forward-character" "end of line"))
 ;; (split-string "this is a valid message" ": ")
-;; (notibox--parse-message "evil-forward-char: End of line")
-;; (notibox--parse-message "this is a badly formed message")
+;; (message "evil-forward-char: End of line")
+;; (message "%s" 'this\:\ is\ a\ \"badly\:\ formed\ message\")
 (defun buflast (buffer)
   "Return the last line of BUFFER as a string, without linebreaks."
   (with-current-buffer buffer
@@ -194,22 +207,27 @@ If the source is not obvious, use `current-buffer'."
       (buffer-substring-no-properties (point-at-bol) (point-max)))))
 ;; (buflast (get-buffer "*Messages*"))
 
+(defvar last-message nil
+  "Previous value of `current-message', stored for notibox.")
 (defun notibox--tail-echoarea ()
   "Show `current-message' in the notibox.  If that does not exist, probably hide it."
   (if (current-message)
-      (let* ((notibox-border-color "#0faa0f") ; hacky, can we set it elsewhere?
-	     (parsed-msg
-	      (notibox--parse-message
-	       ;; (current-message)
-	       (buflast (get-buffer "*Messages*")) ; workaround for abbreviated stuff
-	       ))
-	     (title (car parsed-msg))
-	     (contents (cdr parsed-msg)))
-	(notibox-alert `( :title ,title
-			  :message ,contents
-			  :depth 0)))
-    (if notibox-current-posframes
-	(notibox-delete (car notibox-current-posframes))))
+      (unless (string= last-message (current-message))
+	(let* ((notibox-border-color "#0faa0f") ; hacky, can we set it elsewhere?
+	       (parsed-msg
+		(notibox--parse-message
+		 ;; (current-message)
+		 (buflast (get-buffer "*Messages*")) ; workaround for abbreviated stuff
+		 ))
+	       (title (car parsed-msg))
+	       (contents (cdr parsed-msg)))
+	  (notibox-alert `( :title ,title
+			    :message ,contents
+			    )))
+	(setq last-message (current-message)))
+    ;; (if notibox-current-posframes
+    ;; 	(notibox-delete (car notibox-current-posframes)))
+    )
   )
 
 (defun notibox/setup-timer ()
@@ -221,23 +239,34 @@ If the source is not obvious, use `current-buffer'."
 (defun notibox-test-alert ()
   "Show a sample notibox to prove we can."
   (interactive)
-  (notibox-alert '(:title "five" :message "six")))
-;; (notibox-alert '(:title "一" :message "二" :timeout 5 :depth 0))
+  (notibox-alert `(:title ,(random 8096) :message "test of notibox")))
+;; (notibox-test-alert)
+;; (notibox-alert '(:title "一" :message "二" :timeout 5))
+;; (notibox-alert '(:title "三" :message "四" :timeout 5))
+;; wanna watch the variable. how do we do that
+(add-variable-watcher 'notibox-current-posframes
+		      (lambda (symbol newval operation where)
+			"Display the variable in *watched* buffer."
+			(with-current-buffer (get-buffer-create "*watched*")
+			  (goto-char (point-max))
+			  (insert
+			   (format "\n%s:\n  was: %s\n  now: %s"
+				   symbol
+				   (eval symbol)
+				   newval)))
+			))
+(--map (remove-variable-watcher 'notibox-current-posframes it)
+       (get-variable-watchers 'notibox-current-posframes))
 
 ;; begin frame moving experiments. thought we already did this...
-(setq test-frame (posframe-show "*Messages*"
-				:position '(800 . 50)
-				:width 30
-				:height 16))
 (defun mir/move-frame (frame pos)
   "Move FRAME to POS, a cons of (top . left)."
-  (modify-frame-parameters frame
-			   `(
-			     (top . ,(car pos))
-			     (left . ,(cdr pos))
-			     )))
-;; (frame-parameters test-frame)
-;; (mir/move-frame test-frame '(300 . 1200))
+  (if (frame-live-p frame)
+      (modify-frame-parameters frame
+			       `(
+				 (top . ,(car pos))
+				 (left . ,(cdr pos))
+				 ))))
 (defvar mir/framove-update-interval 0.05
   "How many seconds to wait before updating incremental frame positions.")
 
@@ -282,8 +311,35 @@ intermediate positions are calculated via `mir/framove-update-interval'."
     )
   nil
   )
-;; (mir/framove-gradual test-frame '(500 . 1400) 1)
-;; (mir/move-frame test-frame '(500 . 500))
+
+(defun mir/notibox-down-one (frame)
+  "Move FRAME down by `notibox-padding'."
+  (if (frame-live-p frame)
+      (let* ((parms (frame-parameters frame))
+	     (old-y (alist-get 'top parms))
+	     (old-x (alist-get 'left parms)))
+	(mir/framove-gradual frame (cons
+				    (+ old-y ;; (- (* notibox-height
+					     ;; 	   (window-text-height))
+					     ;; 	notibox-padding)
+				       (/
+					(+ (* (window-text-height) notibox-height)
+					   notibox-padding)
+					2))
+				    old-x
+				    ) 0.125))))
+;; (notibox-test-alert)
+(defun notibox-test-message ()
+  "Send a message and see if it gets picked up by notibox."
+  (message "test message %s: %s is a number" (random 40) (random 500)))
+;; (notibox-test-message)
+
+(defun mir/push-notibox (frame)
+  "Push FRAME onto `notibox-current-posframes' and display it at the top of the stack."
+  (--map (mir/notibox-down-one it)		     ; move each by the interval - need more infra first
+	 (reverse notibox-current-posframes))
+  (push frame notibox-current-posframes)
+  )
 
 (provide 'notibox)
 ;;; notibox.el ends here