gistfile1.pyw

#a very simple serialization
def _serialize(model_instance):
    #the defaultdict returns an identity function by default
    types = defaultdict(lambda: lambda x: x)
    types[datetime] = lambda x: unicode(x)

    r = {}
    for f in model_instance._meta.fields:
        attval = getattr(model_instance, f.attname)
        #serialize the type if it needs serialization
        attval = types[attval.__class__](attval)
        r[f.attname] = attval
    return r