diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
index 967a634..3cebd52 100644
--- a/flake.lock
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -332,22 +332,6 @@
         "type": "github"
       }
     },
-    "nixpkgs-next": {
-      "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1711646189,
-        "narHash": "sha256-+fnMLzJhiLAY/2ACsWPnLkstUpR0PKEVjlsCWH2aFGg=",
-        "owner": "nixos",
-        "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "rev": "5d44454602e6964b5e582edc81098aac06f8ecbe",
-        "type": "github"
-      },
-      "original": {
-        "owner": "nixos",
-        "ref": "staging-next",
-        "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "type": "github"
-      }
-    },
     "nixpkgs-stable": {
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1711124224,
@@ -461,7 +445,6 @@
         "home-manager": "home-manager",
         "hyprland": "hyprland",
         "nixpkgs": "nixpkgs_3",
-        "nixpkgs-next": "nixpkgs-next",
         "nixpkgs-stable": "nixpkgs-stable",
         "nixpkgsForIosevka": "nixpkgsForIosevka",
         "pre-commit-hooks": "pre-commit-hooks",
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index dbbd588..339a67f 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
     nixpkgs-stable.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-23.11";
 
-    nixpkgs-next.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/staging-next";
+    # nixpkgs-next.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/staging-next";
 
     # I have this as a separate input so I don't rebuild the font every time I
     # want to upgrade nixpkgs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
   outputs = {
     self,
     nixpkgs,
-    nixpkgs-next,
+    # nixpkgs-next,
     nixpkgsForIosevka,
     home-manager,
     hardware,
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
           }) (import ./nixos))
       // {
         # TODO: stabilize "appliance"-type hosts on stable nixpkgs ASAP to avoid breakages
-        beefcake = nixpkgs-next.lib.nixosSystem {
+        beefcake = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
           system = "x86_64-linux";
           specialArgs = {
             inherit inputs outputs api-lyte-dev hardware;
diff --git a/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.scss b/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.scss
index 145eba6..9902fbc 100644
--- a/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.scss
+++ b/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.scss
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ $rosewater: #f5e0dc;
   color: $text;
 }
 
+.workspace.occupied.active,
+.workspace.active {
+  color: $base;
+  background-color: $subtext1;
+}
+
+.workspace.occupied.focused.active,
 .workspace.occupied.focused,
 .workspace.focused {
   color: $base;
diff --git a/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.yuck b/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.yuck
index 21e99de..139c3ea 100644
--- a/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.yuck
+++ b/modules/home-manager/eww/eww.yuck
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
     )
     {" ${round(EWW_CPU["avg"], 0)}%"}
     {" ${round(EWW_RAM["used_mem_perc"], 0)}%"}
+    ; TODO: have these "widgets" be omitted entirely instead of just empty strings
     {(showBrightness == "true") ? (" ${brightness}%") : ""}
     {(showBattery == "true") ? ("󱊣 ${EWW_BATTERY["BAT1"]["capacity"]}% (${batteryTime})") : ""}
     (box :orientation "h" :space-evenly false :halign "start" :valign "center" (workspaces))
diff --git a/modules/home-manager/eww/scripts/hypr-workspaces.bash b/modules/home-manager/eww/scripts/hypr-workspaces.bash
index 5baa1aa..3829c24 100755
--- a/modules/home-manager/eww/scripts/hypr-workspaces.bash
+++ b/modules/home-manager/eww/scripts/hypr-workspaces.bash
@@ -1,49 +1,52 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+# TODO: we're mixing bash arrays and not-arrays - get it together
+
 #define icons for workspaces 1-9
 ic=(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)
 
-#initial check for occupied workspaces
-for num in $(hyprctl workspaces | grep ID | sed 's/()/(1)/g' | awk 'NR>1{print $1}' RS='(' FS=')'); do 
-  export o"$num"=" occupied"
-done
- 
-#initial check for focused workspace
-for num in $(hyprctl monitors | grep active | sed 's/()/(1)/g' | awk 'NR>1{print $1}' RS='(' FS=')'); do 
-  export f"$num"=" focused"
-  export fnum=f"$num"
-done
+occ() { export o"$1"="occupied"; }
+unocc() { unset -v o"$1"; }
+
+active() { export a"$1"="active"; }
+unactive() { unset -v a"$1"; }
+
+focus() { export f"$1"="focused"; }
+unfocus() { unset -v f"$1"; }
 
 workspaces() {
-  if [[ ${1:0:9} == "workspace" ]]; then
-    # set focused workspace
-    unset -v "$fnum"
-    num=${1:11}
-    export f"$num"=" focused"
-    export fnum=f"$num"
-  elif [[ ${1:0:15} == "createworkspace" ]]; then 
-    # set occupied workspace
-    num=${1:17}
-    export o"$num"=" occupied"
-    export f"$num"=" focused"
-  elif [[ ${1:0:16} == "destroyworkspace" ]]; then
-    # unset occupied workspace
-    num=${1:18}
-    unset -v o"$num" f"$num"
-  fi
+  for num in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9; do
+    unfocus $num
+    unactive $num
+    unocc $num
+  done
+
+  # TODO: avoid recomputing these each time and actually listen to the events?
+  mons_json=$(hyprctl monitors -j)
+  for num in $(hyprctl workspaces -j | jq -r '.[] | select(.windows > 0) | .id'); do 
+    occ "$num"
+  done
+ 
+  for num in $(echo "$mons_json" | jq -r '.[].activeWorkspace.id'); do 
+    active "$num"
+  done
+
+  for num in $(echo "$mons_json" | jq -r '.[] | select(.focused) | .activeWorkspace.id'); do 
+    focus "$num"
+  done
 
   # render eww widget
   echo "(eventbox :onscroll \"echo {} | sed -e 's/up/-1/g' -e 's/down/+1/g' | xargs hyprctl dispatch workspace\" \
     (box :class \"workspaces\" :orientation \"h\" :spacing 0 :space-evenly \"true\" \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 1\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 1\" :class \"workspace$o1$f1\" \"${ic[0]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 2\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 2\" :class \"workspace$o2$f2\" \"${ic[1]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 3\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 3\" :class \"workspace$o3$f3\" \"${ic[2]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 4\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 4\" :class \"workspace$o4$f4\" \"${ic[3]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 5\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 5\" :class \"workspace$o5$f5\" \"${ic[4]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 6\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 6\" :class \"workspace$o6$f6\" \"${ic[5]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 7\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 7\" :class \"workspace$o7$f7\" \"${ic[6]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 8\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 8\" :class \"workspace$o8$f8\" \"${ic[7]}\") \
-      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 9\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 9\" :class \"workspace$o9$f9\" \"${ic[8]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 1\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 1\" :class \"workspace $a1 $o1 $f1\" \"${ic[0]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 2\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 2\" :class \"workspace $a2 $o2 $f2\" \"${ic[1]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 3\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 3\" :class \"workspace $a3 $o3 $f3\" \"${ic[2]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 4\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 4\" :class \"workspace $a4 $o4 $f4\" \"${ic[3]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 5\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 5\" :class \"workspace $a5 $o5 $f5\" \"${ic[4]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 6\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 6\" :class \"workspace $a6 $o6 $f6\" \"${ic[5]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 7\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 7\" :class \"workspace $a7 $o7 $f7\" \"${ic[6]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 8\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 8\" :class \"workspace $a8 $o8 $f8\" \"${ic[7]}\") \
+      (button :onclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 9\" :onrightclick \"hyprctl dispatch workspace 9\" :class \"workspace $a9 $o9 $f9\" \"${ic[8]}\") \
     ) \
   )"
 }
@@ -52,6 +55,10 @@ workspaces() {
 workspaces
 
 # listen to events and re-render
-socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/tmp/hypr/"${HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE}"/.socket2.sock | while read -r event; do
-  workspaces "$event"
+while true; do
+  # TODO: not sure why this socat | read invocation seems to stop?
+  socat - "UNIX-CONNECT:/tmp/hypr/$HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE/.socket2.sock" | while read -r line; do
+    workspaces "$line"
+  done
 done
+echo '(box "DONE")'
diff --git a/modules/nixos/ewwbar.nix b/modules/nixos/ewwbar.nix
index 500ef10..eba6869 100644
--- a/modules/nixos/ewwbar.nix
+++ b/modules/nixos/ewwbar.nix
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {pkgs, ...}: {
-  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [eww upower];
+  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [eww upower jq];
 }