diff --git a/CMake/CMakeLists.txt b/CMake/CMakeLists.txt
index 81159f60..95e916f0 100644
--- a/CMake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 2.8)
 project(histogram)
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
 
-option(USE_PYTHON ON)
-option(USE_NUMPY ON)
-option(BUILD_CHECKS OFF)
+option(USE_PYTHON "Build Python bindings" ON)
+option(USE_NUMPY "Build Numpy support" ON)
+option(BUILD_CHECKS "Build auxillary checks" OFF)
 
 if(${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
   STRING(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
diff --git a/examples/example_1d.py b/examples/example_1d.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..38ec73e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example_1d.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import histogram as hg
+import numpy as np
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+h = hg.histogram(hg.regular_axis(10, -3, 3))
+h.fill(np.random.randn(1000))
+
+bins = h.axis(0).bins
+
+x = np.array(h.axis(0)) # axis instances behave like sequences
+y = np.asarray(h)       # creates a view (no copy involved)
+y = y[:bins]            # cut off underflow/overflow bins
+y = np.append(y, [0])   # append a zero because matplotlib's plot(...) is weird
+
+plt.plot(x, y, drawstyle="steps-post")
+plt.xlabel("x")
+plt.ylabel("y")
+plt.show()
diff --git a/examples/example_2d.py b/examples/example_2d.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b2e98e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example_2d.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import histogram as hg
+import numpy as np
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+h = hg.histogram(hg.regular_axis(10, -3, 3, uoflow=False),
+                 hg.regular_axis(10, -3, 3, uoflow=False))
+xy = np.random.randn(2000).reshape((1000, 2))
+xy[:,1] *= 0.5
+h.fill(xy)
+
+bins = h.axis(0).bins
+
+x = np.array(h.axis(0)) # axis instances behave like sequences
+y = np.array(h.axis(1))
+z = np.asarray(h)       # creates a view (no copy involved)
+
+plt.pcolor(x, y, z.T)
+plt.xlabel("x")
+plt.ylabel("y")
+plt.show()