diff --git a/src/more_speech/config.clj b/src/more_speech/config.clj
index 07f4b85..cec0ae9 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/config.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/config.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 (ns more-speech.config
-  (:require [more-speech.mem :refer :all]
-            [more-speech.db.in-memory :as in-memory]
-            [more-speech.db.xtdb :as xtdb]))
+  (:require
+    [more-speech.db.in-memory :as in-memory]
+    [more-speech.db.xtdb :as xtdb]
+    [more-speech.mem :refer :all]))
 
 (def default-font "COURIER-PLAIN-14")
 (def bold-font "COURIER-BOLD-14")
@@ -10,9 +11,9 @@
 
 (def article-width 120)
 
-(def days-to-read 6/24) ;how far back in time to load old messages from the database.
+(def days-to-read 6/24)                                     ;how far back in time to load old messages from the database.
 (def days-to-read-messages-that-have-been-read 7)
-(def read-contacts false) ;Read contacts from relays at startup.
+(def read-contacts false)                                   ;Read contacts from relays at startup.
 (def read-contact-lists-days-ago 0.5)
 
 (def migration-level 11)
@@ -22,8 +23,8 @@
 
 (def subscription-id-base "ms")
 
-(def auto-thanks :off) ;{:dm :note :off}
-(def auto-thanks-fortune :normal) ;{:off :normal :markov :insane}
+(def auto-thanks :off)                                      ;{:dm :note :off}
+(def auto-thanks-fortune :normal)                           ;{:off :normal :markov :insane}
 
 (def test-run? (atom false))
 (defn is-test-run? [] @test-run?)
@@ -47,12 +48,12 @@
 ;---configuration files
 (def private-directory (atom "private"))
 (def migration-filename (atom "private/migration"))
-(def nicknames-filename (atom "private/nicknames")) ;grandfathered.
+(def nicknames-filename (atom "private/nicknames"))         ;grandfathered.
 (def profiles-filename (atom "private/profiles"))
 (def keys-filename (atom "private/keys"))
 (def relays-filename (atom "private/relays"))
 (def read-event-ids-filename (atom "private/read-event-ids"))
-(def tabs-filename (atom "private/tabs")) ;grandfathered.
+(def tabs-filename (atom "private/tabs"))                   ;grandfathered.
 (def tabs-list-filename (atom "private/tabs-list"))
 (def messages-directory (atom "private/messages"))
 (def messages-filename (atom "private/messages/message-file"))
@@ -93,6 +94,8 @@
 (def user-name-chars #"[\w\-]+")
 (def reference-pattern #"\#\[\d+\]")
 
+(def html-escapes {\< "&lt;" \> "&gt;"})
+
 (def production-db :xtdb)
 (def db-type (atom nil))
 
diff --git a/src/more_speech/nostr/protocol.clj b/src/more_speech/nostr/protocol.clj
index 906157b..19ec3fa 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/nostr/protocol.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/nostr/protocol.clj
@@ -368,9 +368,10 @@
       (check-open url))))
 
 (defn connect-to-relays []
-  (doseq [url (keys @relays)]
-    (let [relay (make-relay url)]
-      (connect-to-relay relay)))
+  (let [futures (for [url (keys @relays)]
+                  (let [relay (make-relay url)]
+                    (future (connect-to-relay relay))))]
+    (doseq [f futures] (deref f)))
   (log-pr 2 'relay-connection-attempts-complete))
 
 (defn request-contact-lists-from-relays []
diff --git a/src/more_speech/ui/formatter_util.clj b/src/more_speech/ui/formatter_util.clj
index 8826d21..a2d1311 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/ui/formatter_util.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/ui/formatter_util.clj
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 (ns more-speech.ui.formatter-util
-  (:require [clojure.string :as string])
+  (:require [clojure.string :as string]
+            [more-speech.config :as config])
   (:import (java.text SimpleDateFormat)
            (java.util Date)))
 
@@ -26,4 +27,19 @@
 (defn prepend> [text]
   (let [lines (string/split-lines text)
         lines (map #(str ">" %) lines)]
-    (string/join "\n" lines)))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (string/join "\n" lines)))
+
+(defn wrap-and-trim [s n l]
+  (cond
+    (zero? l) ""
+
+    (< (count s) n) s
+
+    :else
+    (let [point (.lastIndexOf s " " n)
+          point (if (< point 1) n point)]
+      (str (subs s 0 point)
+           "<br>"
+           (wrap-and-trim (subs s point) n (dec l))))))
+
+(defn escape-html [s] (string/escape s config/html-escapes))
diff --git a/src/more_speech/ui/formatters.clj b/src/more_speech/ui/formatters.clj
index 69dc813..86cd07f 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/ui/formatters.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/ui/formatters.clj
@@ -134,9 +134,12 @@
 
 (defn format-header
   ([event]
-   (format-header event :long))
+   (format-header event :long {}))
 
-  ([{:keys [pubkey created-at tags zaps] :as event} opt]
+  ([event opt]
+   (format-header event opt {}))
+
+  ([{:keys [pubkey created-at tags zaps] :as event} opt args]
    (try
      (if (nil? event)
        "nil"
@@ -158,7 +161,21 @@
          (condp = opt
            :long (format "%s%s %20s %s %s%s%s\n" reply-mark reaction-mark name time zap-mark dm-mark subject-content)
            :short (format "%s%s %s %s %s%s%s" reply-mark reaction-mark name time zap-mark dm-mark subject-content)
-           :menu-item (format "%-20.20s %s %10.10s|%-30.30s" name short-time subject content))))
+           :menu-item (format "%-20.20s %s %10.10s|%-30.30s" name short-time subject content)
+
+           :tree-header
+           (let [read-mark (if (:read? args) " " "<span style=\"font-size:5px\">🔵</span>&nbsp&nbsp")
+                 trimmed-content (-> content
+                                     (string/replace \newline \space)
+                                     (wrap-and-trim 100 2))
+                 escaped-name (escape-html name)
+                 escaped-dm-mark (escape-html dm-mark)
+                 reaction-mark (if (some? (:reactions event)) (str "🤙" reaction-mark) "")]
+             (format "<html>%s<span style=\"font-size:11px\"><b>%-20.20s %s %s %s%s <i>%s</i></b></span><br>%s<hr></html>"
+                     read-mark escaped-name reaction-mark short-time
+                     zap-mark escaped-dm-mark subject
+                     trimmed-content))
+           )))
      (catch Exception e
        (log-pr 1 'format-header 'Exception (.getMessage e))))))
 
diff --git a/src/more_speech/ui/swing/edit_window.clj b/src/more_speech/ui/swing/edit_window.clj
index 25e35e9..4b54a85 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/ui/swing/edit_window.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/ui/swing/edit_window.clj
@@ -31,9 +31,8 @@
      (when (or (not reply?)
                (and reply? (some? event)))
        (when reply?
-         (let [subject (formatters/get-subject (:tags event))
-               prefix (if (empty? subject) "" "Re: ")]
-           (text! subject-text (str prefix subject))))
+         (let [subject (formatters/get-subject (:tags event))]
+           (text! subject-text subject)))
        (listen send-button :action
                (fn [_]
                  (let [message (text edit-area)
diff --git a/src/more_speech/ui/swing/tabs.clj b/src/more_speech/ui/swing/tabs.clj
index 0421338..909e759 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/ui/swing/tabs.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/ui/swing/tabs.clj
@@ -13,10 +13,9 @@
     [more-speech.nostr.zaps :as zaps]
     [more-speech.ui.formatters :as formatters]
     [more-speech.ui.swing.article-panel :as article-panel]
-    [more-speech.ui.swing.tabs-util :as at-util]
     [more-speech.ui.swing.edit-window :as edit-window]
-    [more-speech.ui.swing.util :as swing-util]
-    [more-speech.user-configuration :as uconfig])
+    [more-speech.ui.swing.tabs-util :as at-util]
+    [more-speech.ui.swing.util :as swing-util])
   (:use (seesaw [color] [core] [font] [tree]))
   (:import (javax.swing.tree DefaultMutableTreeNode DefaultTreeModel TreePath)))
 
@@ -30,10 +29,9 @@
           event-id (if (number? event-id) event-id 0)       ;dummy event-idi
           event (gateway/get-event (get-db) event-id)
           read? (:read event)
-          font (if read? (uconfig/get-default-font) (uconfig/get-bold-font))
           color (if (= (:kind event) 4) :blue :black)]
-      (config! widget :font font :foreground color)
-      (text! widget (formatters/format-header event)))))
+      (config! widget :foreground color)
+      (text! widget (formatters/format-header event :tree-header {:read? read?})))))
 
 (defn select-article
   [tab-index selected-node]
@@ -52,7 +50,9 @@
   (let [tab-index (swing-util/get-tab-index tab-name)
         header-tree (tree :renderer render-event
                           :root-visible? false
-                          :expands-selected-paths? true
+                          :shows-root-handles? false
+                          :expands-selected-paths? false
+                          :row-height 60
                           :model (DefaultTreeModel. (DefaultMutableTreeNode. 0)))
         renderer (.getCellRenderer header-tree)
         _ (.setBackgroundSelectionColor renderer (color :azure))]
diff --git a/src/more_speech/websocket_relay.clj b/src/more_speech/websocket_relay.clj
index ee18d3c..8e4b6c0 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/websocket_relay.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/websocket_relay.clj
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
             cl (.header cl "origin" "more-speech")
             cws (.buildAsync cl (URI/create url) (->listener (StringBuffer.) relay))
             wsf (future (.get cws))
-            ws (deref wsf 30000 :time-out)]
+            ws (deref wsf 5000 :time-out)]
         (if (= ws :time-out)
           (do
             (log-pr 2 'connection-time-out url)