diff --git a/src/server/distrend.c b/src/server/distrend.c
--- a/src/server/distrend.c
+++ b/src/server/distrend.c
@@ -93,13 +93,6 @@ int distrend_do()
   return 0;
 }
 /**
-   Accepts a client's connection
- */
-void distrend_accept()
-{
-
-}
-/**
    Frees the action
 */
 void distrend_action_free()
@@ -1182,10 +1175,10 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   /* This is called the "main loop" */
   while(cont)
     {
-      struct distren_action *action;
+      struct distrend_action *action;
       int clientsays = 0; /*< temporary example variable, will be replaced when we can handle messages */
 
-      distrend_accept(&action);
+      distrend_accept(config, clients, &action);
       cont = distrend_do(action);
 
       /* Make the following code more event-driven */
diff --git a/src/server/distrend.h b/src/server/distrend.h
--- a/src/server/distrend.h
+++ b/src/server/distrend.h
@@ -35,5 +35,9 @@ struct distrend_config
   char *datadir;
 };
 
+struct distrend_action
+{
+  struct distrend_client *client;
+};
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/server/listen.c b/src/server/listen.c
--- a/src/server/listen.c
+++ b/src/server/listen.c
@@ -23,20 +23,23 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/select.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 
 /* local */
 
-struct distrend_client
-{
-  int sock;
-  int state;
-};
-
 struct distrend_clientset
 {
   LIST *clients;
+
+  /*
+    for select()
+   */
+  fd_set readfds;
+  fd_set writefds;
+  int nfds;
 };
 
 
@@ -71,6 +74,51 @@ int distrend_listen(struct distrend_conf
 
   tmp = listen(config->listens->sock, 1);
 
+  FD_ZERO(&(*clients)->readfds);
+  FD_ZERO(&(*clients)->writefds);
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+int distrend_accept_find_client(fd_set *fdset, struct distrend_client *client)
+{
+  if(FD_ISSET(client->sock, fdset))
+    return FALSE;
+  return TRUE;
+}
+
+int distrend_accept(struct distrend_config *config, struct distrend_clientset *clients, struct distrend_action **action)
+{
+  int tmp;
+  fd_set readfds;
+  fd_set writefds;
+
+  struct distrend_client *cli;
+
+  memcpy(&readfds, &clients->readfds, sizeof(fd_set));
+  memcpy(&writefds, &clients->writefds, sizeof(fd_set));
+
+  tmp = select(clients->nfds, &readfds, &writefds, NULL, (struct timeval *)NULL);
+  if(tmp == -1)
+    {
+      perror("select");
+
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+  /**
+     check if our traversal function found a bit that was set
+   */
+  if(list_traverse(clients->clients, &readfds, &distrend_accept_find_client, LIST_FRNT | LIST_ALTR) == LIST_OK)
+    {
+      cli = (struct distrend_client *)list_curr(clients->clients);
+      fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: My traversal says that sock %d has data waiting, which is %s\n",
+	     __FILE__, __LINE__,
+	     cli->sock, FD_ISSET(cli->sock, &readfds) ? "true" : "false");
+      fprintf(stderr, "stub\n");
+      return 1;
+    }
+
   return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/server/listen.h b/src/server/listen.h
--- a/src/server/listen.h
+++ b/src/server/listen.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 struct distrend_clientset;
 struct distrend_listen;
+struct distrend_client;
 
 #ifndef _DISTREN_LISTEN_H
 #define _DISTREN_LISTEN_H
@@ -31,6 +32,13 @@ struct distrend_listen
   int sock;
 };
 
+struct distrend_client
+{
+  int sock;
+  int state;
+};
+
+
 
 /**
    initializes the listens and clientset
@@ -40,6 +48,15 @@ struct distrend_listen
 int distrend_listen(struct distrend_config *config, struct distrend_clientset **clients);
 
 /**
+   checks states of the sockets I'm managing. If there are any new connections,
+   or activity on any sockets, I'll call the appropriate function.
+   I will block until there is some sort of activity, including
+   signals. If you want to cleanly shut down, it's best to register
+   signal handlers somewhere
+ */
+int distrend_accept(struct distrend_config *config, struct distrend_clientset *clients, struct distrend_action **action);
+
+/**
    cleans listening socket. Unnecessary for a working server, currently a stub.
  */
 int distrend_unlisten(struct distrend_listen *listens, struct distrend_clientset *clients);