diff --git a/notibox.el b/notibox.el
index ab318df..b6e00db 100644
--- a/notibox.el
+++ b/notibox.el
@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@ If STACKDEPTH is non-nil and nonzero, return a position that far down."
 
 (defun notibox--hide (frame)
   "Stop showing FRAME."
-  (posframe-hide (window-buffer (frame-selected-window frame))))
+  (if (frame-live-p frame)
+      (posframe-hide (window-buffer (frame-selected-window frame)))))
 
 (defun notibox-delete (frame)
   "Delete the notibox FRAME.
@@ -157,34 +158,46 @@ If the source is not obvious, use `current-buffer'."
 	 contents
 	 (splooted (split-string msg ": ")))
     (pcase (length splooted)
-      (2 (progn
-	   (setq source (car splooted))
-	   (setq contents (cadr splooted))))
+      ;; problem: the echo area shows only cdr, whereas messages buffer shows the source fn we want..
       (1 (progn
 	   (setq source
 		 (format "%s"
 			 (current-buffer)))
 	   (setq contents
 		 (car splooted))))
+      (2 (progn
+	   (setq source (car splooted))
+	   (setq contents (cadr 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")
+(defun buflast (buffer)
+  "Return the last line of BUFFER as a string, without linebreaks."
+  (with-current-buffer buffer
+    (save-excursion
+      (goto-char (- (point-max) 1)) ; there is a \n at the end of every buffer
+      (buffer-substring-no-properties (point-at-bol) (point-max)))))
+;; (buflast (get-buffer "*Messages*"))
 
 (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")
+      (let* ((notibox-border-color "#0faa0f") ; hacky, can we set it elsewhere?
 	     (parsed-msg
-	      (notibox--parse-message (current-message)))
+	      (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)))
+	(notibox-alert `( :title ,title
+			  :message ,contents
+			  :depth 0)))
     (if notibox-current-posframes
 	(notibox-delete (car notibox-current-posframes))))
   )