diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ee6fde6..b31ffe1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 .bundle
 Gemfile.lock
 pkg/*
-
+/log/
 /irc_machine.json
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index adcd89f..131b7ad 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,11 +9,19 @@ Design philosophy: simple to the point of under-engineered, make it work for the
     git clone git://github.com/pda/irc_machine
     cd irc_machine
     cp example.json irc_machine.json
-    ./bin/irc_machine
+
+    # run it
+    ./bin/irc_machined run
+    # ctrl+c
+
+    # daemonize it
+    ./bin/irc_machined start
+    # stop the daemon
+    ./bin/irc_machined stop
 
     # or maybe even this (chances aren't good, though)
     gem install irc_machine
-    irc_machine
+    irc_machined run
 
 
 HTTP interface
diff --git a/bin/irc_machine b/bin/irc_machine
index 7a35192..86e4b12 100755
--- a/bin/irc_machine
+++ b/bin/irc_machine
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
+$: << File.expand_path("../../lib", __FILE__)
 
-require "json"
-params = JSON.load(open("./irc_machine.json")).
-  inject({}) { |h, (k,v)| h[k.to_sym] = v; h }
+require 'irc_machine/cli_shared'
 
-require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "../lib/irc_machine")
-IrcMachine::Session.new(params).start
+IrcMachine::Session.new(IRC_MACHINE).start
diff --git a/bin/irc_machined b/bin/irc_machined
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..dd4f78e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/irc_machined
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+$: << File.expand_path("../../lib", __FILE__)
+
+require 'rubygems'
+require 'daemons'
+
+require 'irc_machine/cli_shared'
+
+daemon_defaults = {
+  :app_name => 'irc_machine',
+  :dir_mode => :normal,
+  :dir => ".",
+  :multiple => false,
+  :backtrace => true,
+  :monitor => false,
+  :log_dir => File.expand_path("../../log", __FILE__),
+  :log_output => true
+}
+
+IRC_MACHINE[:daemon] ||= {}
+
+daemon_params = daemon_defaults.merge(IRC_MACHINE[:daemon])
+
+FileUtils.mkdir_p(daemon_params[:log_dir])
+
+Daemons.run(File.expand_path("../irc_machine", __FILE__), daemon_params)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/irc_machine.gemspec b/irc_machine.gemspec
index d816ba5..a322a1b 100644
--- a/irc_machine.gemspec
+++ b/irc_machine.gemspec
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_dependency "eventmachine"
   s.add_dependency "eventmachine_httpserver"
   s.add_dependency "rack"
+  s.add_dependency "daemons"
 
   s.add_development_dependency "bundler"
   s.add_development_dependency "rake"
diff --git a/lib/irc_machine.rb b/lib/irc_machine.rb
index c3124c0..a4e7295 100644
--- a/lib/irc_machine.rb
+++ b/lib/irc_machine.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-$LOAD_PATH << File.dirname(__FILE__)
-
 %w{
   ostruct
   eventmachine
diff --git a/lib/irc_machine/cli_shared.rb b/lib/irc_machine/cli_shared.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a171bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/irc_machine/cli_shared.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+require "json"
+require 'irc_machine/monkey_patches'
+require 'irc_machine'
+
+ENV['IRC_MACHINE_CONF'] ||= File.expand_path("./irc_machine.json")
+IRC_MACHINE = JSON.load(open(ENV['IRC_MACHINE_CONF'])).symbolize_keys
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/irc_machine/monkey_patches.rb b/lib/irc_machine/monkey_patches.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8dd509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/irc_machine/monkey_patches.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+class Hash
+  def symbolize_keys
+    inject({}) do |h, (k,v)|
+      h[k.to_sym] = case v
+                    when Hash
+                      v.symbolize_keys
+                    else
+                      v
+                    end
+      h
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file