diff --git a/Gemstone/Color.hs b/Gemstone/Color.hs
--- a/Gemstone/Color.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/Color.hs
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
 grassGreen = Color3 0 255 63
 stoneGray = Color3 127 127 127
 
+hotPink :: RGB
+hotPink = Color3 255 105 180
+
 -- | Vary a color by a given amount, using the provide random number
 --   generator.
 varyColor :: GLubyte -> StdGen -> RGB -> (StdGen, RGB)
diff --git a/Gemstone/GL.hs b/Gemstone/GL.hs
--- a/Gemstone/GL.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/GL.hs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import Control.Monad
 import Graphics.Rendering.OpenGL
-import Graphics.UI.SDL
+import Graphics.UI.SDL (glSwapBuffers)
 
 checkErrors :: IO ()
 checkErrors = do
@@ -36,3 +36,20 @@
 resizeViewport w h
     | w > h     = viewport $= (Position ((w-3*h) `div` 2) (-h), Size (2*h) (2*h))
     | otherwise = viewport $= (Position (-w) ((h-3*w) `div` 2), Size (2*w) (2*w))
+
+-- | Turn on alpha blending.
+enableBlending :: IO ()
+enableBlending = do
+    blend $= Enabled
+    blendFunc $= (SrcAlpha, OneMinusSrcAlpha)
+
+-- | Set some initial GL state that should be set once and only once.
+--
+--   It doesn't hurt to call this action multiple times.
+prepareGLState :: IO ()
+prepareGLState = do
+    putStrLn "Preparing GL state..."
+    checkErrors
+    enableBlending
+    putStrLn "Finished preparing GL state!"
+    checkErrors
diff --git a/Gemstone/Loop.hs b/Gemstone/Loop.hs
--- a/Gemstone/Loop.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/Loop.hs
@@ -53,3 +53,21 @@
     zoom _2 $ handler event
     -- Continue until all events have been handled.
     when (event /= NoEvent) $ handleEvents handler
+
+updateTimers :: Loop a
+updateTimers = do
+    ticks <- lift getTicks
+    gems . gTimers %= updateTimestamp ticks
+
+gemstoneLoop :: Loop a -> Loop a -> Loop a -> Loop a
+gemstoneLoop pre draw post = do
+    updateTimers
+    pre
+    draw
+    post
+    q <- use $ gems . gQuitFlag
+    unless q $ gemstoneLoop pre draw post
+
+simpleLoop :: Loop a -> Loop a
+simpleLoop draw = gemstoneLoop pre draw (return ())
+    where pre = handleEvents (\_ -> return ())
diff --git a/Gemstone/Main.hs b/Gemstone/Main.hs
--- a/Gemstone/Main.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/Main.hs
@@ -7,8 +7,21 @@
 import Gemstone.GL
 import Gemstone.Loop
 
-gemstoneMain :: a -> Loop a -> IO ()
-gemstoneMain globals loop = withInit [InitEverything] $ do
-    initial <- getInitialGems
+-- | Main entrypoint for Gemstone.
+--
+--   Note that SDL state (and, by extension, GL state) doesn't exist outside
+--   of this function. However, SDL will be started before the globals are
+--   populated, so it is possible to run SDL and/or GL actions in the setup.
+--
+--   >>> main = gemstoneMain makeGlobals (setupState >> mainLoop)
+gemstoneMain :: IO a -> Loop a -> IO ()
+gemstoneMain setup loop = withInit [InitEverything] $ do
+    -- Order of operations matters, doesn't it...
+    -- First, grab the gem state. This gets us the surface and enables GL.
+    initialGems <- getInitialGems
+    -- Now we can check GL extensions and set up our GL state.
     checkExtensions
-    void $ runStateT loop (initial, globals)
+    prepareGLState
+    -- And now the app-specific state can be created.
+    initialState <- setup
+    void $ runStateT loop (initialGems, initialState)
diff --git a/Gemstone/Particles.hs b/Gemstone/Particles.hs
--- a/Gemstone/Particles.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/Particles.hs
@@ -52,4 +52,4 @@
     newParticle = makeParticle (x, y) life c' & _1 . aSprite . sMaterial %~ f
     f material = case material of
         Colored c'' _ -> Colored c'' . Just . fst $ random g
-        x -> x
+        mat -> mat
diff --git a/Gemstone/Sprite.hs b/Gemstone/Sprite.hs
--- a/Gemstone/Sprite.hs
+++ b/Gemstone/Sprite.hs
@@ -24,13 +24,8 @@
 drawSprite (Sprite material b) = case material of
     Colored c malpha -> do
         case malpha of
-            Just alpha -> do
-                blend $= Enabled
-                blendFunc $= (SrcAlpha, OneMinusSrcAlpha)
-                color $ addAlpha alpha c
-            Nothing -> do
-                blend $= Disabled
-                color c
+            Just alpha -> color $ addAlpha alpha c
+            Nothing -> color c
         renderPrimitive Quads $ do
             vertex (Vertex2 x y)
             vertex (Vertex2 x' y)
@@ -41,6 +36,7 @@
         activeTexture $= TextureUnit 0
         textureBinding Texture2D $= Just texobj
         textureFunction $= Replace
+        color hotPink
         renderPrimitive Quads $ do
             texCoord (TexCoord2 r s)
             vertex (Vertex2 x y)
diff --git a/Gemstone/Util.hs b/Gemstone/Util.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Gemstone/Util.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+module Gemstone.Util where
+
+import Data.Word
+import Foreign
+
+import Graphics.Rendering.OpenGL
+
+checkerboard :: [Word8]
+checkerboard = map (* 255) [ (x + y) `mod` 2 | x <- [0..7], y <- [0..7] ]
+
+withWord8Ptr :: [Word8] -> (Ptr Word8 -> IO b) -> IO b
+withWord8Ptr bytes action = let
+    len = length bytes
+    indexed = zip [0..] bytes
+    in allocaBytes len $ \ptr -> do
+        mapM_ (uncurry $ pokeElemOff ptr) indexed
+        action ptr
+
+-- | Pack a finite list of Word8s into a texture.
+word8ToTexture :: Int -> Int -> [Word8] -> IO TextureObject
+word8ToTexture width height bytes = do
+    [texobj] <- genObjectNames 1
+    textureBinding Texture2D $= Just texobj
+    textureFilter Texture2D $= ((Nearest, Nothing), Nearest)
+    withWord8Ptr bytes $ \ptr -> let
+        pd = PixelData Luminance UnsignedByte ptr
+        size = TextureSize2D (fromIntegral width) (fromIntegral height)
+        in texImage2D Nothing NoProxy 0 Luminance' size 0 pd
+    textureBinding Texture2D $= Nothing
+    return texobj
+
+checkerboardTexture :: IO TextureObject
+checkerboardTexture = word8ToTexture 8 8 checkerboard
diff --git a/gemstone.cabal b/gemstone.cabal
--- a/gemstone.cabal
+++ b/gemstone.cabal
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 -- The package version. See the Haskell package versioning policy
 -- (http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Package_versioning_policy) for
 -- standards guiding when and how versions should be incremented.
-Version:             0.2.1
+Version:             0.3
 
 -- A short (one-line) description of the package.
 Synopsis:            A simple library of helpers for SDL+GL games.
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
                    , Gemstone.Random
                    , Gemstone.Sprite
                    , Gemstone.Timers
+                   , Gemstone.Util
   
   -- Packages needed in order to build this package.
   Build-depends:     base >= 4 && < 5