diff --git a/config/assets.yml b/config/assets.yml
index 1442e4c54..86ea18512 100644
--- a/config/assets.yml
+++ b/config/assets.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,12 @@ javascripts:
     - public/javascripts/vendor/jquery.infinitescroll.min.js
     - public/javascripts/vendor/timeago.js
     - public/javascripts/vendor/fileuploader.js
+    - public/javascripts/vendor/Mustache.js
     - public/javascripts/view.js
     - public/javascripts/stream.js
     - public/javascripts/application.js
+    - public/javascripts/diaspora.js
+    - public/javascripts/widgets/alert.js
   
   mobile:
     - public/javascripts/vendor/jquery144.min.js
diff --git a/public/javascripts/aspect-edit.js b/public/javascripts/aspect-edit.js
index 7ffa6ad64..5a57c0334 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/aspect-edit.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/aspect-edit.js
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ var AspectEdit = {
     var person_id = person.attr('data-guid');
 
     if( $(".person[data-guid='"+ person_id +"']").length == 1) {
-      AspectEdit.alertUser("You cannot remove the person from the last aspect");
+      Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert("Error removing aspect", "You cannot remove the person from the last aspect");
     } else {
       if (!person.hasClass('request')) {
 
@@ -118,27 +118,27 @@ var AspectEdit = {
       link = "/aspects/" + id;
 
 
-    $this.keypress(function(e) {
-      if (e.which == 13) {
-        e.preventDefault();
-        $this.blur();
-
-        //save changes
-        $.ajax({
-          type: "PUT",
-          url: link,
-          data: {
-            "aspect": {
-              "name" : $this.text()
-            }
-          }
-        });
-      }
-
+    $this.keyup(function(e) {
+      e.preventDefault();
 
       //update all other aspect links
-      $this.keyup(function(e) {
-        $("#aspect_nav li[data-guid='" + id + "'] a").text($this.text());
+      $("#aspect_nav li[data-guid='" + id + "'] a").text($this.text());
+
+      if(e.keyCode === 13) {
+          $this.trigger("blur");
+      }  
+    });
+
+    $this.blur(function() {
+      //save changes
+      $.ajax({
+        type: "PUT",
+        url: link,
+        data: {
+          "aspect": {
+            "name" : $this.text()
+          }
+        }
       });
     });
   },
@@ -165,10 +165,6 @@ var AspectEdit = {
         AspectEdit.deletePersonFromAspect(person);
       }
     }
-  },
-
-  alertUser: function(message) {
-    alert(message);
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/public/javascripts/contact-list.js b/public/javascripts/contact-list.js
index c8a7e20fd..315c4cd31 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/contact-list.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/contact-list.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
   });
 
   $('.added').live('ajax:failure', function(data, html, xhr) {
-    alert("#{t('.cannot_remove')}");
+    Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert("#{t('.cannot_remove')}");
     $(this).fadeTo(200,1);
   });
 
diff --git a/public/javascripts/diaspora.js b/public/javascripts/diaspora.js
index dc454466f..698791b40 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/diaspora.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/diaspora.js
@@ -4,20 +4,30 @@
 */
 
 var Diaspora = Diaspora || {};
-Diaspora.widgets = Diaspora.widgets || {
-  pageWidgets: {},
-  
-  add: function(widgetId, widget) {
-    this.pageWidgets[widgetId] = widget;
-  },
 
-  remove: function(widgetId) {
-    delete this.pageWidgets[widgetId];
-  },
+Diaspora.widgetCollection = function() {
+  this.ready = false;
+  this.collection = {};
+};
 
-  init: function() {
-    for (var widgetId in this.pageWidgets) {
-      this.pageWidgets[widgetId].start();
+Diaspora.widgetCollection.prototype.add = function(widgetId, widget) {
+    this[widgetId] = this.collection[widgetId] = new widget();
+    if(this.ready) {
+      this.collection[widgetId].start();
+    }
+  };
+
+Diaspora.widgetCollection.prototype.remove = function(widgetId) {
+    delete this.collection[widgetId];
+};
+
+Diaspora.widgetCollection.prototype.init = function() {
+    this.ready = true;
+    for(var widgetId in this.collection) {
+      this.collection[widgetId].start();
     }
   }
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+
+Diaspora.widgets = Diaspora.widgets || new Diaspora.widgetCollection();
+
+$(Diaspora.widgets.init);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/public/javascripts/photo-show.js b/public/javascripts/photo-show.js
index 1c2541278..765598f03 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/photo-show.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/photo-show.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
   });
 
   $('.edit_photo').bind('ajax:failure', function(data, json, xhr) {
-    alert('Failed to delete photo.  Are you sure you own this?');
+    Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert("Failed to delete photo.", "Are you sure you own this?");
     $("#show_photo").find("img").fadeTo(200,1);
     $("#photo_spinner").hide();
   });
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
 
   $('.make_profile_photo').bind('ajax:failure', function(data, json, xhr) {
     var person_id = $(this).closest(".photo_options").attr('data-actor_person');
-    alert("Failed to update profile photo!");
+    Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert("Failed to update profile photo!");
     $("img[data-person_id='" + person_id + "']").fadeTo(200, 1);
   });
 
diff --git a/public/javascripts/stream.js b/public/javascripts/stream.js
index 53499d2cc..ea9a754ed 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/stream.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/stream.js
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ var Stream = {
     });
 
     $(".new_status_message").bind('ajax:failure', function(data, html, xhr) {
-      alert('failed to post message!');
+      Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert('Failed to post message!');
     });
 
     $(".new_comment").live('ajax:success', function(data, json, xhr) {
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ var Stream = {
       WebSocketReceiver.processComment(json.post_id, json.comment_id, json.html, false);
     });
     $(".new_comment").live('ajax:failure', function(data, html, xhr) {
-      alert('failed to post message!');
+      Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert('Failed to post message!');
     });
 
     $(".stream").find(".delete").live('ajax:success', function(data, html, xhr) {
diff --git a/public/javascripts/vendor/Mustache.js b/public/javascripts/vendor/Mustache.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b6b85c81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/javascripts/vendor/Mustache.js
@@ -0,0 +1,332 @@
+/*
+ mustache.js — Logic-less templates in JavaScript
+
+ See http://mustache.github.com/ for more info.
+ */
+(function() {
+    var Mustache = function() {
+        var Renderer = function() {
+        };
+
+        Renderer.prototype = {
+            otag: "{{",
+            ctag: "}}",
+            pragmas: {},
+            buffer: [],
+            pragmas_implemented: {
+                "IMPLICIT-ITERATOR": true
+            },
+            context: {},
+
+            render: function(template, context, partials, in_recursion) {
+                // reset buffer & set context
+                if (!in_recursion) {
+                    this.context = context;
+                    this.buffer = []; // TODO: make this non-lazy
+                }
+
+                // fail fast
+                if (!this.includes("", template)) {
+                    if (in_recursion) {
+                        return template;
+                    } else {
+                        this.send(template);
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                template = this.render_pragmas(template);
+                var html = this.render_section(template, context, partials);
+                if (in_recursion) {
+                    return this.render_tags(html, context, partials, in_recursion);
+                }
+
+                this.render_tags(html, context, partials, in_recursion);
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Sends parsed lines
+             */
+            send: function(line) {
+                if (line != "") {
+                    this.buffer.push(line);
+                }
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Looks for %PRAGMAS
+             */
+            render_pragmas: function(template) {
+                // no pragmas
+                if (!this.includes("%", template)) {
+                    return template;
+                }
+
+                var that = this;
+                var regex = new RegExp(this.otag + "%([\\w-]+) ?([\\w]+=[\\w]+)?" +
+                        this.ctag);
+                return template.replace(regex, function(match, pragma, options) {
+                    if (!that.pragmas_implemented[pragma]) {
+                        throw({message:
+                                "This implementation of mustache doesn't understand the '" +
+                                        pragma + "' pragma"});
+                    }
+                    that.pragmas[pragma] = {};
+                    if (options) {
+                        var opts = options.split("=");
+                        that.pragmas[pragma][opts[0]] = opts[1];
+                    }
+                    return "";
+                    // ignore unknown pragmas silently
+                });
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Tries to find a partial in the curent scope and render it
+             */
+            render_partial: function(name, context, partials) {
+                name = this.trim(name);
+                if (!partials || partials[name] === undefined) {
+                    throw({message: "unknown_partial '" + name + "'"});
+                }
+                if (typeof(context[name]) != "object") {
+                    return this.render(partials[name], context, partials, true);
+                }
+                return this.render(partials[name], context[name], partials, true);
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Renders inverted (^) and normal (#) sections
+             */
+            render_section: function(template, context, partials) {
+                if (!this.includes("#", template) && !this.includes("^", template)) {
+                    return template;
+                }
+
+                var that = this;
+                // CSW - Added "+?" so it finds the tighest bound, not the widest
+                var regex = new RegExp(this.otag + "(\\^|\\#)\\s*(.+)\\s*" + this.ctag +
+                        "\n*([\\s\\S]+?)" + this.otag + "\\/\\s*\\2\\s*" + this.ctag +
+                        "\\s*", "mg");
+
+                // for each {{#foo}}{{/foo}} section do...
+                return template.replace(regex, function(match, type, name, content) {
+                    var value = that.find(name, context);
+                    if (type == "^") { // inverted section
+                        if (!value || that.is_array(value) && value.length === 0) {
+                            // false or empty list, render it
+                            return that.render(content, context, partials, true);
+                        } else {
+                            return "";
+                        }
+                    } else if (type == "#") { // normal section
+                        if (that.is_array(value)) { // Enumerable, Let's loop!
+                            return that.map(value,
+                                           function(row) {
+                                               return that.render(content, that.create_context(row),
+                                                       partials, true);
+                                           }).join("");
+                        } else if (that.is_object(value)) { // Object, Use it as subcontext!
+                            return that.render(content, that.create_context(value),
+                                    partials, true);
+                        } else if (typeof value === "function") {
+                            // higher order section
+                            return value.call(context, content, function(text) {
+                                return that.render(text, context, partials, true);
+                            });
+                        } else if (value) { // boolean section
+                            return that.render(content, context, partials, true);
+                        } else {
+                            return "";
+                        }
+                    }
+                });
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Replace {{foo}} and friends with values from our view
+             */
+            render_tags: function(template, context, partials, in_recursion) {
+                // tit for tat
+                var that = this;
+
+                var new_regex = function() {
+                    return new RegExp(that.otag + "(=|!|>|\\{|%)?([^\\/#\\^]+?)\\1?" +
+                            that.ctag + "+", "g");
+                };
+
+                var regex = new_regex();
+                var tag_replace_callback = function(match, operator, name) {
+                    switch (operator) {
+                        case "!": // ignore comments
+                            return "";
+                        case "=": // set new delimiters, rebuild the replace regexp
+                            that.set_delimiters(name);
+                            regex = new_regex();
+                            return "";
+                        case ">": // render partial
+                            return that.render_partial(name, context, partials);
+                        case "{": // the triple mustache is unescaped
+                            return that.find(name, context);
+                        default: // escape the value
+                            return that.escape(that.find(name, context));
+                    }
+                };
+                var lines = template.split("\n");
+                for (var i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+                    lines[i] = lines[i].replace(regex, tag_replace_callback, this);
+                    if (!in_recursion) {
+                        this.send(lines[i]);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (in_recursion) {
+                    return lines.join("\n");
+                }
+            },
+
+            set_delimiters: function(delimiters) {
+                var dels = delimiters.split(" ");
+                this.otag = this.escape_regex(dels[0]);
+                this.ctag = this.escape_regex(dels[1]);
+            },
+
+            escape_regex: function(text) {
+                // thank you Simon Willison
+                if (!arguments.callee.sRE) {
+                    var specials = [
+                        '/', '.', '*', '+', '?', '|',
+                        '(', ')', '[', ']', '{', '}', '\\'
+                    ];
+                    arguments.callee.sRE = new RegExp(
+                            '(\\' + specials.join('|\\') + ')', 'g'
+                            );
+                }
+                return text.replace(arguments.callee.sRE, '\\$1');
+            },
+
+            /*
+             find `name` in current `context`. That is find me a value
+             from the view object
+             */
+            find: function(name, context) {
+                name = this.trim(name);
+
+                // Checks whether a value is thruthy or false or 0
+                function is_kinda_truthy(bool) {
+                    return bool === false || bool === 0 || bool;
+                }
+
+                var value;
+                if (is_kinda_truthy(context[name])) {
+                    value = context[name];
+                } else if (is_kinda_truthy(this.context[name])) {
+                    value = this.context[name];
+                }
+
+                if (typeof value === "function") {
+                    return value.apply(context);
+                }
+                if (value !== undefined) {
+                    return value;
+                }
+                // silently ignore unkown variables
+                return "";
+            },
+
+            // Utility methods
+
+            /* includes tag */
+            includes: function(needle, haystack) {
+                return haystack.indexOf(this.otag + needle) != -1;
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Does away with nasty characters
+             */
+            escape: function(s) {
+                s = String(s === null ? "" : s);
+                return s.replace(/&(?!\w+;)|["'<>\\]/g, function(s) {
+                    switch (s) {
+                        case "&": return "&amp;";
+                        case "\\": return "\\\\";
+                        case '"': return '&quot;';
+                        case "'": return '&#39;';
+                        case "<": return "&lt;";
+                        case ">": return "&gt;";
+                        default: return s;
+                    }
+                });
+            },
+
+            // by @langalex, support for arrays of strings
+            create_context: function(_context) {
+                if (this.is_object(_context)) {
+                    return _context;
+                } else {
+                    var iterator = ".";
+                    if (this.pragmas["IMPLICIT-ITERATOR"]) {
+                        iterator = this.pragmas["IMPLICIT-ITERATOR"].iterator;
+                    }
+                    var ctx = {};
+                    ctx[iterator] = _context;
+                    return ctx;
+                }
+            },
+
+            is_object: function(a) {
+                return a && typeof a == "object";
+            },
+
+            is_array: function(a) {
+                return Object.prototype.toString.call(a) === '[object Array]';
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Gets rid of leading and trailing whitespace
+             */
+            trim: function(s) {
+                return s.replace(/^\s*|\s*$/g, "");
+            },
+
+            /*
+             Why, why, why? Because IE. Cry, cry cry.
+             */
+            map: function(array, fn) {
+                if (typeof array.map == "function") {
+                    return array.map(fn);
+                } else {
+                    var r = [];
+                    var l = array.length;
+                    for (var i = 0; i < l; i++) {
+                        r.push(fn(array[i]));
+                    }
+                    return r;
+                }
+            }
+        };
+
+        return({
+            name: "mustache.js",
+            version: "0.3.1-dev",
+
+            /*
+             Turns a template and view into HTML
+             */
+            to_html: function(template, view, partials, send_fun) {
+                var renderer = new Renderer();
+                if (send_fun) {
+                    renderer.send = send_fun;
+                }
+                renderer.render(template, view, partials);
+                if (!send_fun) {
+                    return renderer.buffer.join("\n");
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }();
+
+    $.mustache = function(template, view, partials, send_fun) {
+        return Mustache.to_html(template, view, partials, send_fun);
+    };
+})();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/public/javascripts/widgets/alert.js b/public/javascripts/widgets/alert.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cafb71366
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/javascripts/widgets/alert.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+Diaspora.widgets.add("alert", function() {
+  this.start = function() {
+    $(document).bind("close.facebox", function() {
+      if ($("#diaspora_alert").length) {
+        $("#diaspora_alert").detach();
+      }
+    });
+  };
+
+  this.faceboxTemplate = '<div id="diaspora_alert">' +
+    '<div class="span-12 last">' +
+      '<div id="facebox_header">' +
+        '<h4>' +
+          '{{title}}' +
+        '</h4>' +
+      '</div>' +
+      '{{content}}' +
+    '</div>' +
+  '</div>';
+
+
+  this.alert = function(title, content) {
+    var template = $.mustache(this.faceboxTemplate, {
+      title: title,
+      content: content
+    });
+
+    $(template).appendTo(document.body);
+
+    $.facebox({
+      div: "#diaspora_alert"
+    });
+  }
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/aspect-edit-spec.js b/spec/javascripts/aspect-edit-spec.js
index 21b0316ae..698385e2a 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/aspect-edit-spec.js
+++ b/spec/javascripts/aspect-edit-spec.js
@@ -215,9 +215,9 @@ describe("AspectEdit", function() {
       spyOn($, 'ajax');
     });
     it("doesn't let you remove the person from the last aspect they're in", function() {
-      spyOn(AspectEdit, 'alertUser');
+      spyOn(Diaspora.widgets.alert, 'alert');
       AspectEdit.deletePersonFromAspect($('li.person'));
-      expect(AspectEdit.alertUser).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(Diaspora.widgets.alert.alert).toHaveBeenCalled();
       expect($.ajax).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
   });
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/diaspora-spec.js b/spec/javascripts/diaspora-spec.js
index fc64b2f37..9ef9bc06a 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/diaspora-spec.js
+++ b/spec/javascripts/diaspora-spec.js
@@ -4,30 +4,51 @@
 */
 
 describe("Diaspora", function() {
-  describe("widgets", function() {
-    beforeEach(function() {
-      Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets = {};
-    });
-    describe("add", function() {
-      it("adds a widget to the list of pageWidgets", function() {
-        expect(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"]).not.toBeDefined();
-        Diaspora.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", {});
-        expect(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"]).toBeDefined();
+  describe("widgetCollection", function() {
+    describe("prototype", function() {
+      beforeEach(function() {
+        window.widgets = new Diaspora.widgetCollection();
       });
-    });
-    describe("remove", function() {
-      it("removes a widget from the list of pageWidgets", function() {
-        Diaspora.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", {});
-        expect(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"]).toBeDefined();
-        Diaspora.widgets.remove("nameOfWidget");
-        expect(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"]).not.toBeDefined();
+
+      describe("add", function() {
+        it("adds a widget to the collection", function() {
+          expect(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"]).not.toBeDefined();
+          window.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", function() { });
+          expect(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"]).toBeDefined();
+        });
+
+        it("sets a shortcut by referencing the object on Diaspora.widgetCollection", function() {
+          expect(window.widgets.sup).toBeFalsy();
+          window.widgets.add("sup", function() { });
+          expect(window.widgets.sup).toEqual(window.widgets.collection.sup);
+        });
+      });
+
+      describe("remove", function() {
+        it("removes a widget from the collection", function() {
+          window.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", function() { });
+          expect(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"]).toBeDefined();
+          window.widgets.remove("nameOfWidget");
+          expect(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"]).not.toBeDefined();
+        });
+      });
+
+      describe("init", function() {
+        it("calls the start method on all of the widgets present", function() {
+          window.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", function() {
+            this.start = function() { }
+          });
+
+          spyOn(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"], "start");
+          window.widgets.init();
+          expect(window.widgets.collection["nameOfWidget"].start).toHaveBeenCalled();
+        });
+        it("changes the ready property to true", function() {
+          expect(window.widgets.ready).toBeFalsy();
+          window.widgets.init();
+          expect(window.widgets.ready).toBeTruthy();
+        });
       });
-    });
-    describe("init", function() {
-      Diaspora.widgets.add("nameOfWidget", {start:$.noop});
-      spyOn(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"], "start");
-      Diaspora.widgets.init();
-      expect(Diaspora.widgets.pageWidgets["nameOfWidget"].start).toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/support/jasmine.yml b/spec/javascripts/support/jasmine.yml
index 4ac051fee..ed55edf14 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/support/jasmine.yml
+++ b/spec/javascripts/support/jasmine.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ src_files:
   - public/javascripts/vendor/timeago.js
   - public/javascripts/vendor/facebox.js
   - public/javascripts/diaspora.js
+  - public/javascripts/widgets/alert.js
   - public/javascripts/mobile.js
   - public/javascripts/aspect-edit.js
   - public/javascripts/aspect-contacts.js