diff --git a/client/README.md b/client/README.md
index 83b9fe9..0eb1269 100644
--- a/client/README.md
+++ b/client/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 `# apt-get install libzmq3-dev`
+
 `$ go get github.com/pebbe/zmq4`
diff --git a/client/zmq_client.go b/client/zmq_client.go
index 93a88fc..499e3e9 100644
--- a/client/zmq_client.go
+++ b/client/zmq_client.go
@@ -1,22 +1,98 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"log"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	zmq "github.com/pebbe/zmq4"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 
 	"github.com/gtank/ctxd/parser"
-	zmq "github.com/pebbe/zmq4"
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/gtank/ctxd/storage"
 )
 
-const (
-	PORT = 28332
-)
+var log *logrus.Entry
+var logger = logrus.New()
+var db *sql.DB
+
+type Options struct {
+	zmqAddr  string
+	dbPath   string
+	logLevel uint64
+	logPath  string
+}
 
 func main() {
+	opts := &Options{}
+	flag.StringVar(&opts.zmqAddr, "zmq-addr", "127.0.0.1:28332", "the address of the 0MQ publisher")
+	flag.StringVar(&opts.dbPath, "db-path", "", "the path to a sqlite database file")
+	flag.Uint64Var(&opts.logLevel, "log-level", uint64(logrus.InfoLevel), "log level (logrus 1-7)")
+	flag.StringVar(&opts.logPath, "log-file", "", "log file to write to")
+	// TODO prod metrics
+	// TODO support config from file and env vars
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	if opts.dbPath == "" {
+		flag.Usage()
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// Initialize logging
+	logger.SetFormatter(&logrus.TextFormatter{
+		//DisableColors: true,
+		FullTimestamp:          true,
+		DisableLevelTruncation: true,
+	})
+
+	if opts.logPath != "" {
+		// instead write parsable logs for logstash/splunk/etc
+		output, err := os.Open(opts.logPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+				"error": err,
+				"path":  opts.logPath,
+			}).Fatal("couldn't open log file")
+		}
+		defer output.Close()
+		logger.SetOutput(output)
+		logger.SetFormatter(&logrus.JSONFormatter{})
+	}
+
+	logger.SetLevel(logrus.Level(opts.logLevel))
+
+	log = logger.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+		"app": "zmqclient",
+	})
+
+	// Initialize database
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", opts.dbPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"db_path": opts.dbPath,
+			"error":   err,
+		}).Fatal("couldn't open SQL db")
+	}
+
+	// Creates our tables if they don't already exist.
+	err = storage.CreateTables(db)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error": err,
+		}).Fatal("couldn't create SQL tables")
+	}
+
+	// Initialize ZMQ
 	ctx, err := zmq.NewContext()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error": err,
+		}).Fatal("couldn't create zmq context")
 	}
 	defer ctx.Term()
 
@@ -25,27 +101,43 @@ func main() {
 	// like a mutex.
 	sock, err := ctx.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(errors.Wrap(err, "creating socket"))
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error": err,
+		}).Fatal("couldn't create zmq context socket")
 	}
+
 	err = sock.SetSubscribe("rawblock")
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(errors.Wrap(err, "subscribing"))
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error":  err,
+			"stream": "rawblock",
+		}).Fatal("couldn't subscribe to stream")
 	}
-	err = sock.Connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:28332")
+
+	connString := fmt.Sprintf("tcp://%s", opts.zmqAddr)
+	err = sock.Connect(connString)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(errors.Wrap(err, "connecting"))
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error":      err,
+			"connection": connString,
+		}).Fatal("couldn't connect to socket")
 	}
 	defer sock.Close()
 
+	// Start listening for new blocks
 	for {
 		msg, err := sock.RecvMessageBytes(0)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println(errors.Wrap(err, "on message receipt"))
+			log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+				"error": err,
+			}).Error("error on msg recv")
 			continue
 		}
 
 		if len(msg) < 3 {
-			log.Printf("got unknown msg: %v", msg)
+			log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+				"msg": msg,
+			}).Warn("got unknown message type")
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -57,26 +149,67 @@ func main() {
 		}
 
 		switch string(topic) {
+
 		case "rawblock":
-			log.Printf("got block (%d): %x\n", sequence, body[:80])
-			go handleBlock(sequence, body)
+			log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+				"seqnum": sequence,
+				"header": fmt.Sprintf("%x", body[:80]),
+			}).Debug("got block")
+
+			// there's an implicit mutex here
+			go handleBlock(db, sequence, body)
+
 		default:
-			log.Printf("unexpected topic: %s (%d)", topic, sequence)
+			log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+				"seqnum": sequence,
+				"topic":  topic,
+			}).Warn("got message with unknown topic")
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-func handleBlock(sequence int, blockData []byte) {
+func handleBlock(db *sql.DB, sequence int, blockData []byte) {
 	block := parser.NewBlock()
 	rest, err := block.ParseFromSlice(blockData)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("Error parsing block (%d): %v", err)
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"seqnum": sequence,
+			"error":  err,
+		}).Error("error parsing block")
 		return
 	}
 	if len(rest) != 0 {
-		log.Println("Received overlong message:\n%x", rest)
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"seqnum": sequence,
+			"length": len(rest),
+		}).Warn("received overlong message")
 		return
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("Received a version %d block with %d transactions.", block.GetVersion(), block.GetTxCount())
+	displayHash := hex.EncodeToString(block.GetEncodableHash())
+	marshaledBlock, _ := proto.Marshal(block.ToCompact())
+
+	err = storage.StoreBlock(
+		db,
+		block.GetHeight(),
+		displayHash,
+		block.HasSaplingTransactions(),
+		marshaledBlock,
+	)
+
+	entry := log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+		"seqnum":         sequence,
+		"block_height":   block.GetHeight(),
+		"block_hash":     displayHash,
+		"block_version":  block.GetVersion(),
+		"tx_count":       block.GetTxCount(),
+		"has_sapling_tx": block.HasSaplingTransactions(),
+		"error":          err,
+	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		entry.Error("error storing block")
+	} else {
+		entry.Info("received new block")
+	}
 }