diff --git a/README b/README
index 09b7718..1e6b809 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ See RestClient::Resource docs for details.
 
 == Shell
 
-Require rest_client from within irb to access RestClient interactively, like
-using curl at the command line.  Better yet, require gem from within your
-~/.rush/env.rb and have instant access to it from within your rush
-(http://rush.heroku.com) sessions.
+Run: 
+restclient resource_url [username] [password] 
+
+or require the gem from within your ~/.rush/env.rb and have instant access to it from within your rush (http://rush.heroku.com) sessions.
 
 == Meta
 
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index b5f1fa8..ef70004 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ spec = Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 	s.has_rdoc = true
 	
 	s.files = %w(Rakefile) + Dir.glob("{lib,spec}/**/*")
+	s.executables = ['restclient']
 	
 	s.require_path = "lib"
 end
diff --git a/bin/restclient b/bin/restclient
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..94f9910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/restclient
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+$:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../lib"
+require 'rest_client'
+
+def usage
+	puts "usage: restclient url [username] [password]"
+	exit(1)
+end
+
+@url = ARGV.first || 'http://localhost:4567'
+
+usage unless @url =~ /^https?/
+usage unless ARGV.size < 3
+
+def r
+	@r ||= RestClient::Resource.new(*[@url, ARGV])
+end
+
+r # force rc to load
+
+%w(get post put delete).each do |m|
+ eval <<-end_eval
+def #{m}(path, *args, &b)
+	r[path].#{m}(*args, &b)
+end
+ end_eval
+end
+
+def method_missing(s, *args, &b)
+	super unless r.respond_to?(s)
+	begin
+		r.send(s, *args, &b)
+	rescue RestClient::RequestFailed => e
+		puts e.response.body
+		raise e
+	end
+end
+
+require 'irb'
+require 'irb/completion'
+
+if File.exists? ".irbrc"
+  ENV['IRBRC'] = ".irbrc"
+end
+
+if File.exists?(rcfile = "~/.restclientrc")
+	load(rcfile)
+end
+
+ARGV.clear
+
+IRB.start
+exit!
diff --git a/rest-client.gemspec b/rest-client.gemspec
index a8b21a0..08fcb64 100644
--- a/rest-client.gemspec
+++ b/rest-client.gemspec
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
     s.platform = Gem::Platform::RUBY
     s.files = %w(Rakefile README rest-client.gemspec 
                  lib/request_errors.rb lib/resource.rb lib/rest_client.rb 
-                 spec/base.rb spec/request_errors_spec.rb spec/resource_spec.rb spec/rest_client_spec.rb)
+                 spec/base.rb spec/request_errors_spec.rb spec/resource_spec.rb spec/rest_client_spec.rb
+                 bin/restclient)
+    s.executables = ['restclient']
     s.require_path = "lib"
 end
\ No newline at end of file