diff --git a/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl b/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl
index 2fb41e0..0539326 100644
--- a/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl
+++ b/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl
@@ -65,17 +65,23 @@ end
 # a type for keeping track of gradient descent history
 struct DescentHistory{T}
   scaled_loss::Array{T}
+  neg_grad::Array{Matrix{T}}
   slope::Array{T}
   stepsize::Array{T}
   backoff_steps::Array{Int64}
+  last_line_L::Array{Matrix{T}}
+  last_line_loss::Array{T}
   
   function DescentHistory{T}(
     scaled_loss = Array{T}(undef, 0),
+    neg_grad = Array{Matrix{T}}(undef, 0),
     slope = Array{T}(undef, 0),
     stepsize = Array{T}(undef, 0),
-    backoff_steps = Int64[]
+    backoff_steps = Int64[],
+    last_line_L = Array{Matrix{T}}(undef, 0),
+    last_line_loss = Array{T}(undef, 0)
   ) where T
-    new(scaled_loss, slope, stepsize, backoff_steps)
+    new(scaled_loss, neg_grad, slope, stepsize, backoff_steps, last_line_L, last_line_loss)
   end
 end
 
@@ -119,23 +125,33 @@ function realize_gram(
     L_last = L
     loss_last = loss
     push!(history.scaled_loss, loss / scale_adjustment)
+    push!(history.neg_grad, neg_grad)
     push!(history.slope, slope)
     
     # find a good step size using backtracking line search
     push!(history.stepsize, 0)
     push!(history.backoff_steps, max_backoff_steps)
+    empty!(history.last_line_L)
+    empty!(history.last_line_loss)
     for backoff_steps in 0:max_backoff_steps
       history.stepsize[end] = stepsize
       L = L_last + stepsize * neg_grad
       Δ_proj = proj_diff(gram, L'*Q*L)
       loss = dot(Δ_proj, Δ_proj)
       improvement = loss_last - loss
+      push!(history.last_line_L, L)
+      push!(history.last_line_loss, loss / scale_adjustment)
       if improvement >= target_improvement * stepsize * slope
         history.backoff_steps[end] = backoff_steps
         break
       end
       stepsize *= backoff
     end
+    
+    # [DEBUG] if we've hit a wall, quit
+    if history.backoff_steps[end] == max_backoff_steps
+      break
+    end
   end
   
   # return the factorization and its history