diff --git a/History.txt b/History.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01c1e47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/History.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+=
+  * Birthday!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.rdoc b/README.md
similarity index 55%
rename from README.rdoc
rename to README.md
index 866f621..7422421 100644
--- a/README.rdoc
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,9 +1,28 @@
-= bert
+BERT
+====
 
-Description goes here.
+BERT is a BERT (Binary ERlang Term) serialization library for Ruby. It can
+encode Ruby objects into BERT format and decode BERT binaries into Ruby
+objects.
+
+
+Installation
+------------
+
+    gem install bert -s http://gemcutter.org
+
+
+Usage
+-----
+
+    require 'bert'
+    
+    BERT.encode([
+
+
+Note on Patches/Pull Requests
+-----------------------------
 
-== Note on Patches/Pull Requests
- 
 * Fork the project.
 * Make your feature addition or bug fix.
 * Add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a
@@ -13,6 +32,8 @@ Description goes here.
    bump version in a commit by itself I can ignore when I pull)
 * Send me a pull request. Bonus points for topic branches.
 
-== Copyright
+
+Copyright
+---------
 
 Copyright (c) 2009 Tom Preston-Werner. See LICENSE for details.
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 049089d..ff4689d 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@ begin
   require 'jeweler'
   Jeweler::Tasks.new do |gem|
     gem.name = "bert"
-    gem.summary = %Q{TODO: one-line summary of your gem}
-    gem.description = %Q{TODO: longer description of your gem}
+    gem.summary = %Q{BERT Serializiation for Ruby}
+    gem.description = %Q{BERT Serializiation for Ruby}
     gem.email = "tom@mojombo.com"
     gem.homepage = "http://github.com/mojombo/bert"
     gem.authors = ["Tom Preston-Werner"]
-    gem.add_development_dependency "thoughtbot-shoulda"
+    gem.add_dependency('erlectricity', '>= 1.0.1')
+    gem.add_development_dependency("thoughtbot-shoulda")
     # gem is a Gem::Specification... see http://www.rubygems.org/read/chapter/20 for additional settings
   end
 rescue LoadError
diff --git a/lib/bert.rb b/lib/bert.rb
index e69de29..1dc7180 100644
--- a/lib/bert.rb
+++ b/lib/bert.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+require 'rubygems'
+require 'erlectricity'
+
+require 'bert/encoder'
+require 'bert/decoder'
+
+module BERT
+  def self.encode(ruby)
+    Encoder.encode(ruby)
+  end
+
+  def self.decode(bert)
+    Decoder.decode(bert)
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/bert/decoder.rb b/lib/bert/decoder.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3570272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/bert/decoder.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+module BERT
+  class Decoder
+    # Decode a BERT into a Ruby object.
+    #   +bert+ is the BERT String
+    #
+    # Returns a Ruby object
+    def self.decode(bert)
+      simple_ruby = Erlectricity::Decoder.decode(bert)
+      convert(simple_ruby)
+    end
+
+    # Convert Erlectricity representation of BERT complex types into
+    # corresponding Ruby types.
+    #   +item+ is the Ruby object to convert
+    #
+    # Returns the converted Ruby object
+    def self.convert(item)
+      case item
+        when [:nil, :nil]
+          nil
+        when Array
+          if item.first == :dict
+            item[1..-1].inject({}) do |acc, x|
+              acc[convert(x[0])] = convert(x[1]); acc
+            end
+          else
+            item.map { |x| convert(x) }
+          end
+        else
+          item
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/bert/encoder.rb b/lib/bert/encoder.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b354f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/bert/encoder.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+module BERT
+  class Encoder
+    # Encode a Ruby object into a BERT.
+    #   +ruby+ is the Ruby object
+    #
+    # Returns a BERT
+    def self.encode(ruby)
+      complex_ruby = convert(ruby)
+      Erlectricity::Encoder.encode(complex_ruby)
+    end
+
+    # Convert Ruby types into corresponding Erlectricity representation
+    # of BERT complex types.
+    #   +item+ is the Ruby object to convert
+    #
+    # Returns the converted Ruby object
+    def self.convert(item)
+      case item
+        when Hash
+          a = [:dict]
+          item.each_pair { |k, v| a << [convert(k), convert(v)] }
+          a
+        when Array
+          item.map { |x| convert(x) }
+        when nil
+          [:nil, :nil]
+        else
+          item
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/bert_test.rb b/test/bert_test.rb
index 1c46946..102f9b0 100644
--- a/test/bert_test.rb
+++ b/test/bert_test.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,17 @@
 require 'test_helper'
 
 class BertTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
-  should "probably rename this file and start testing for real" do
-    flunk "hey buddy, you should probably rename this file and start testing for real"
+  context "BERT" do
+    should "encode" do
+      before = [:user, {:name => 'TPW', :nick => 'mojombo'}]
+      after = "\203h\002d\000\004userh\003d\000\004dicth\002d\000\004namem\000\000\000\003TPWh\002d\000\004nickm\000\000\000\amojombo"
+      assert_equal after, BERT.encode(before)
+    end
+
+    should "decode" do
+      before = "\203h\002d\000\004userh\003d\000\004dicth\002d\000\004namem\000\000\000\003TPWh\002d\000\004nickm\000\000\000\amojombo"
+      after = [:user, {:name => 'TPW', :nick => 'mojombo'}]
+      assert_equal after, BERT.decode(before)
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/decoder_test.rb b/test/decoder_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1cd672
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/decoder_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class DecoderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  context "BERT Decoder complex type converter" do
+    should "convert nil" do
+      before = [:nil, :nil]
+      after = nil
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Decoder.convert(before)
+    end
+
+    should "convert nested nil" do
+      before = [[:nil, :nil], [[:nil, :nil]]]
+      after = [nil, [nil]]
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Decoder.convert(before)
+    end
+    
+    should "convert hashes" do
+      before = [:dict, [:foo, 'bar']]
+      after = {:foo => 'bar'}
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Decoder.convert(before)
+    end
+    
+    should "convert nested hashes" do
+      before = [:dict, [:foo, [:dict, [:baz, 'bar']]]]
+      after = {:foo => {:baz => 'bar'}}
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Decoder.convert(before)
+    end
+    
+    should "leave other stuff alone" do
+      before = [1, 2.0, [:foo, 'bar']]
+      assert_equal before, BERT::Decoder.convert(before)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/encoder_test.rb b/test/encoder_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee06f5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/encoder_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class EncoderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  context "BERT Encoder complex type converter" do
+    should "convert nil" do
+      assert_equal [:nil, :nil], BERT::Encoder.convert(nil)
+    end
+
+    should "convert nested nil" do
+      before = [nil, [nil]]
+      after = [[:nil, :nil], [[:nil, :nil]]]
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Encoder.convert(before)
+    end
+
+    should "convert hashes" do
+      before = {:foo => 'bar'}
+      after = [:dict, [:foo, 'bar']]
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Encoder.convert(before)
+    end
+
+    should "convert nested hashes" do
+      before = {:foo => {:baz => 'bar'}}
+      after = [:dict, [:foo, [:dict, [:baz, 'bar']]]]
+      assert_equal after, BERT::Encoder.convert(before)
+    end
+
+    should "leave other stuff alone" do
+      before = [1, 2.0, [:foo, 'bar']]
+      assert_equal before, BERT::Encoder.convert(before)
+    end
+  end
+end