diff --git a/examples/todomvc/index.html b/examples/todomvc/index.html
index e0af231ca..f529ecf77 100644
--- a/examples/todomvc/index.html
+++ b/examples/todomvc/index.html
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
         <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="common/base.css">
     </head>
     <body>
-        <section id="todoapp" sd-controller="Todos">
+        <section id="todoapp" sd-controller="todos">
             <header id="header">
                 <h1>todos</h1>
                 <input
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
                                 sd-checked="todo.completed"
                                 sd-on="change:updateCount"
                             >
-                            <label sd-text="todo.title" sd-on="dblclick:edit"></label>
+                            <label sd-text="todo.title" sd-on="dblclick:editTodo"></label>
                             <button class="destroy" sd-on="click:removeTodo"></button>
                         </div>
                         <input
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
             <p>Created by <a href="http://evanyou.me">Evan You</a></p>
         </footer>
         <script src="../../dist/seed.js"></script>
+        <script src="js/todoStorage.js"></script>
         <script src="js/app.js"></script>
     </body>
 </html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/todomvc/js/app.js b/examples/todomvc/js/app.js
index 7e430ae7d..caa770206 100644
--- a/examples/todomvc/js/app.js
+++ b/examples/todomvc/js/app.js
@@ -1,25 +1,7 @@
-Seed.controller('Todos', function (scope) {
-
-    // data persistence -------------------------------------------------------
-    var STORAGE_KEY = 'todos-seedjs'
-    function sync () {
-        localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, scope.$serialize('todos'))
-    }
-
-    // filters ----------------------------------------------------------------
-    var filters = {
-        all: function () { return true },
-        active: function (v) { return !v },
-        completed: function (v) { return v }
-    }
-    updateFilter()
-    window.addEventListener('hashchange', updateFilter)
-    function updateFilter () {
-        scope.filter = location.hash ? location.hash.slice(2) : 'all'
-    }
+Seed.controller('todos', function (scope) {
 
     // regular properties -----------------------------------------------------
-    scope.todos = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(STORAGE_KEY)) || []
+    scope.todos = todoStorage.fetch()
     scope.remaining = scope.todos.reduce(function (n, todo) {
         return n + (todo.completed ? 0 : 1)
     }, 0)
@@ -63,23 +45,23 @@ Seed.controller('Todos', function (scope) {
             scope.todos.unshift({ title: value, completed: false })
             scope.newTodo = ''
             scope.remaining++
-            sync()
+            todoStorage.save(scope.todos)
         }
     }
 
     scope.removeTodo = function (e) {
         scope.todos.remove(e.scope)
         scope.remaining -= e.scope.completed ? 0 : 1
-        sync()
+        todoStorage.save(scope.todos)
     }
 
     scope.updateCount = function (e) {
         scope.remaining += e.scope.completed ? -1 : 1
-        sync()
+        todoStorage.save(scope.todos)
     }
 
     var beforeEditCache
-    scope.edit = function (e) {
+    scope.editTodo = function (e) {
         beforeEditCache = e.scope.title
         e.scope.editing = true
     }
@@ -89,7 +71,7 @@ Seed.controller('Todos', function (scope) {
         e.scope.editing = false
         e.scope.title = e.scope.title.trim()
         if (!e.scope.title) scope.removeTodo(e)
-        sync()
+        todoStorage.save(scope.todos)
     }
 
     scope.cancelEdit = function (e) {
@@ -103,11 +85,23 @@ Seed.controller('Todos', function (scope) {
         scope.todos = scope.todos.filter(function (todo) {
             return !todo.completed
         })
-        sync()
+        todoStorage.save(scope.todos)
     }
 
+    // filters ----------------------------------------------------------------
+    var filters = {
+        all: function () { return true },
+        active: function (v) { return !v },
+        completed: function (v) { return v }
+    }
+
+    function updateFilter () {
+        scope.filter = location.hash ? location.hash.slice(2) : 'all'
+    }
+    
+    updateFilter()
+    window.addEventListener('hashchange', updateFilter)
+
 })
 
-var s = Date.now()
-Seed.bootstrap({ debug: false })
-console.log(Date.now() - s)
\ No newline at end of file
+Seed.bootstrap()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/todomvc/js/todoStorage.js b/examples/todomvc/js/todoStorage.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d31331a50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/todomvc/js/todoStorage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+var todoStorage = (function () {
+    var STORAGE_KEY = 'todos-seedjs'
+    return {
+        fetch: function () {
+            return JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(this.STORAGE_KEY) || '[]')
+        },
+        save: function (todos) {
+            localStorage.setItem(this.STORAGE_KEY, Seed.utils.serialize(todos))
+        }
+    }
+}())
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 1f87e503e..f57f10e10 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ var config      = require('./config'),
     Seed        = require('./seed'),
     directives  = require('./directives'),
     filters     = require('./filters'),
-    textParser  = require('./text-parser')
+    textParser  = require('./text-parser'),
+    utils       = require('./utils')
 
 var controllers = config.controllers,
     datum       = config.datum,
@@ -10,6 +11,11 @@ var controllers = config.controllers,
     reserved    = ['datum', 'controllers'],
     booted      = false
 
+/*
+ *  expose utils
+ */
+api.utils = utils
+
 /*
  *  Store a piece of plain data in config.datum
  *  so it can be consumed by sd-data
@@ -45,12 +51,9 @@ api.filter = function (name, fn) {
 }
 
 /*
- *  Bootstrap the whole thing
- *  by creating a Seed instance for top level nodes
- *  that has either sd-controller or sd-data
+ *  Set config options
  */
-api.bootstrap = function (opts) {
-    if (booted) return
+api.config = function (opts) {
     if (opts) {
         for (var key in opts) {
             if (reserved.indexOf(key) === -1) {
@@ -59,16 +62,31 @@ api.bootstrap = function (opts) {
         }
     }
     textParser.buildRegex()
+}
+
+/*
+ *  Compile a single element
+ */
+api.compile = function (el) {
+    new Seed(el)
+}
+
+/*
+ *  Bootstrap the whole thing
+ *  by creating a Seed instance for top level nodes
+ *  that has either sd-controller or sd-data
+ */
+api.bootstrap = function (opts) {
+    if (booted) return
+    api.config(opts)
     var el,
         ctrlSlt = '[' + config.prefix + '-controller]',
-        dataSlt = '[' + config.prefix + '-data]',
-        seeds   = []
+        dataSlt = '[' + config.prefix + '-data]'
     /* jshint boss: true */
     while (el = document.querySelector(ctrlSlt) || document.querySelector(dataSlt)) {
-        seeds.push((new Seed(el)).scope)
+        new Seed(el)
     }
     booted = true
-    return seeds.length > 1 ? seeds : seeds[0]
 }
 
 module.exports = api
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/scope.js b/src/scope.js
index 2e0a5a3e0..d919c5b7e 100644
--- a/src/scope.js
+++ b/src/scope.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ ScopeProto.$unwatch = function (key) {
  */
 ScopeProto.$dump = function (key) {
     var bindings = this.$seed._bindings
-    return utils.dumpValue(key ? bindings[key].value : this)
+    return utils.dump(key ? bindings[key].value : this)
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/seed.js b/src/seed.js
index 00134e93d..b74de0bc3 100644
--- a/src/seed.js
+++ b/src/seed.js
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ function Seed (el, options) {
     var ctrlID = el.getAttribute(ctrlAttr)
     if (ctrlID) {
         el.removeAttribute(ctrlAttr)
-        var factory = config.controllers[ctrlID]
-        if (factory) {
-            factory(this.scope)
+        var controller = config.controllers[ctrlID]
+        if (controller) {
+            this._controller = controller
+            controller(this.scope)
         } else {
             config.warn('controller "' + ctrlID + '" is not defined.')
         }
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ function Seed (el, options) {
     if (this._computed.length) depsParser.parse(this._computed)
     delete this._computed
     
+    // extract dependencies for computed properties with dynamic context
     if (this._contextBindings.length) this._bindContexts(this._contextBindings)
     delete this._contextBindings
 }
diff --git a/src/text-parser.js b/src/text-parser.js
index be527d49b..679427d61 100644
--- a/src/text-parser.js
+++ b/src/text-parser.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ module.exports = {
      *  Parse a piece of text, return an array of tokens
      */
     parse: function (node) {
+        if (!BINDING_RE) module.exports.buildRegex()
         var text = node.nodeValue
         if (!BINDING_RE.test(text)) return null
         var m, i, tokens = []
diff --git a/src/utils.js b/src/utils.js
index fcec9efb6..fb17c8f49 100644
--- a/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/utils.js
@@ -24,21 +24,22 @@ function typeOf (obj) {
 /*
  *  Recursively dump stuff...
  */
-function dumpValue (val) {
+function dump (val) {
     var type = typeOf(val)
     if (type === 'Array') {
-        return val.map(dumpValue)
+        return val.map(dump)
     } else if (type === 'Object') {
         if (val.get) { // computed property
             return val.get()
         } else { // object / child scope
-            var ret = {}
+            var ret = {}, prop
             for (var key in val) {
-                if (val.hasOwnProperty(key) &&
-                    typeof val[key] !== 'function' &&
+                prop = val[key]
+                if (typeof prop !== 'function' &&
+                    val.hasOwnProperty(key) &&
                     key.charAt(0) !== '$')
                 {
-                    ret[key] = dumpValue(val[key])
+                    ret[key] = dump(prop)
                 }
             }
             return ret
@@ -51,7 +52,14 @@ function dumpValue (val) {
 module.exports = {
 
     typeOf: typeOf,
-    dumpValue: dumpValue,
+    dump: dump,
+
+    /*
+     *  shortcut for JSON.stringify-ing a dumped value
+     */
+    serialize: function (val) {
+        return JSON.stringify(dump(val))
+    },
 
     /*
      *  Get a value from an object based on a path array
