diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright Michael Adlai Arnold (c) 2017
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Michael Adlai Arnold nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Graflog
+
+Monadic correlated log events!
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/graflog.cabal b/graflog.cabal
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/graflog.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+name:                graflog
+version:             0.1.0
+synopsis:            Monadic correlated log events
+description:         Please see README.md
+homepage:            https://github.com/m-arnold/graflog#readme
+license:             BSD3
+license-file:        LICENSE
+author:              Michael Adlai Arnold
+maintainer:          marnold@cj.com
+copyright:           2016 Michael A. Arnold
+category:            Development
+build-type:          Simple
+extra-source-files:  README.md
+cabal-version:       >=1.10
+
+library
+  hs-source-dirs:      src
+  exposed-modules:     Graflog.Logger, Graflog.Console
+  build-depends:       base >= 4.7 && < 5
+                     , text-conversions
+                     , text
+                     , aeson
+                     , bytestring
+  default-language:    Haskell2010
+  default-extensions:  GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving
+
+test-suite graflog-test
+  type:                exitcode-stdio-1.0
+  hs-source-dirs:      test
+  main-is:             Spec.hs
+  build-depends:       base
+                     , graflog
+                     , test-fixture
+                     , hspec
+                     , mtl
+  ghc-options:         -threaded -rtsopts -with-rtsopts=-N
+  default-language:    Haskell2010
+  default-extensions:  ConstraintKinds DeriveGeneric FlexibleContexts FlexibleInstances GADTs GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving KindSignatures LambdaCase MultiParamTypeClasses NamedFieldPuns OverloadedStrings RankNTypes ScopedTypeVariables TypeOperators DuplicateRecordFields
+
+source-repository head
+  type:     git
+  location: https://github.com/m-arnold/graflog
diff --git a/src/Graflog/Console.hs b/src/Graflog/Console.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Graflog/Console.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+module Graflog.Console
+  ( Console(..)
+  , writeStdout'
+  , enableStdoutLineBuffering
+  ) where
+
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class (MonadIO(liftIO))
+import Data.Text (Text)
+import qualified Data.Text.IO as T (putStrLn)
+import System.IO (hSetBuffering, stdout, BufferMode(..))
+
+class Monad m => Console m where
+  writeStdout :: Text -> m ()
+
+writeStdout' :: MonadIO m => Text -> m ()
+writeStdout' = liftIO . T.putStrLn
+
+-- this function forces stdout into line buffering mode; useful for CloudFormation logs
+enableStdoutLineBuffering :: MonadIO m => m ()
+enableStdoutLineBuffering = liftIO $ hSetBuffering stdout LineBuffering
diff --git a/src/Graflog/Logger.hs b/src/Graflog/Logger.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Graflog/Logger.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
+
+module Graflog.Logger
+  ( Logger(..)
+  , Event(..)
+  , CorrelationId(..)
+  , EventId(..)
+  , Action(..)
+  , logEvent'
+  , jsonEncode
+  ) where
+
+import Data.Aeson (ToJSON, FromJSON, encode)
+import Data.Aeson.TH (deriveJSON, defaultOptions, fieldLabelModifier)
+import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
+import Data.ByteString.Lazy (toStrict)
+import Data.Maybe (fromJust)
+import Data.String (IsString)
+import Data.Text (Text)
+import Data.Text.Conversions (decodeConvertText, UTF8(..))
+
+import Graflog.Console
+
+class Monad m => Logger m where
+  logEvent :: Event -> m ()
+
+newtype CorrelationId = CorrelationId Integer
+  deriving (Eq, Show, Num, FromJSON, ToJSON)
+
+newtype EventId = EventId Integer
+  deriving (Eq, Show, Num, FromJSON, ToJSON)
+
+newtype Action = Action Text
+  deriving (Eq, Show, IsString, FromJSON, ToJSON)
+
+data Event = Event
+  { _correlationId :: CorrelationId
+  , _eventId :: EventId
+  , _action :: Action
+  , _message :: Text
+  } deriving (Eq, Show)
+
+deriveJSON defaultOptions{fieldLabelModifier = drop 1} ''Event
+
+logEvent' :: Console m => Event -> m ()
+logEvent' = writeStdout . jsonEncode
+
+-- this will always work b/c UTF8 spec
+jsonEncode :: ToJSON a => a -> Text
+jsonEncode = byteStringToText . toStrict . encode
+  where byteStringToText :: ByteString -> Text
+        byteStringToText bs = fromJust $ decodeConvertText (UTF8 (bs :: ByteString))
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -F -pgmF hspec-discover #-}