diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 06c29d9..b0232da 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,3 +3,12 @@
 This is a collection of packages which I use across many of my personal
 projects. All packages intended to be used start with an `m`, packages not
 starting with `m` are for internal use within this set of packages.
+
+Other third-party packages which integrate into these:
+
+* [merry](github.com/ansel1/merry): used by `mlog` to embed KV logging
+  information into `error` instances, it should be assumed that all errors
+  returned from these packages are `merry.Error` instances. In cases where a
+  package has a specific error it might return and which might be checked for a
+  function to perform that equality check will be supplied as part of the
+  package.
diff --git a/mlog/errctx.go b/mlog/errctx.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8364cea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlog/errctx.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package mlog
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/ansel1/merry"
+)
+
+type kvKey int
+
+// ErrWithKV embeds the merging of a set of KVs into an error, returning a new
+// error instance. If the error already has a KV embedded in it then the
+// returned error will have the merging of them all.
+func ErrWithKV(err error, kvs ...KVer) merry.Error {
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	merr := merry.WrapSkipping(err, 1)
+	kv := merge(kvs...)
+	if exKV := merry.Value(merr, kvKey(0)); exKV != nil {
+		kv = merge(exKV.(KV), kv)
+	}
+	return merr.WithValue(kvKey(0), kv)
+}
+
+// ErrKV returns a KV which includes the KV embedded in the error by ErrWithKV,
+// if any. The KV will also include an "err" field containing the output of
+// err.Error(), and an "errSrc" field if the given error is a merry error which
+// contains an embedded stacktrace.
+func ErrKV(err error) KVer {
+	var kv KV
+	if kvi := merry.Value(err, kvKey(0)); kvi != nil {
+		kv = kvi.(KV)
+	} else {
+		kv = KV{}
+	}
+	kv["err"] = err.Error()
+	if fileFull, line := merry.Location(err); fileFull != "" {
+		file, dir := filepath.Base(fileFull), filepath.Dir(fileFull)
+		dir = filepath.Base(dir) // only want the first dirname, ie the pkg name
+		kv["errSrc"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s:%d", dir, file, line)
+	}
+	return kv
+}
+
+// CtxWithKV embeds a KV into a Context, returning a new Context instance. If
+// the Context already has a KV embedded in it then the returned error will have
+// the merging of the two.
+func CtxWithKV(ctx context.Context, kvs ...KVer) context.Context {
+	kv := merge(kvs...)
+	existingKV := ctx.Value(kvKey(0))
+	if existingKV != nil {
+		kv = merge(existingKV.(KV), kv)
+	}
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, kvKey(0), kv)
+}
+
+// CtxKV returns a copy of the KV embedded in the Context by CtxWithKV
+func CtxKV(ctx context.Context) KVer {
+	kv := ctx.Value(kvKey(0))
+	if kv == nil {
+		return KV{}
+	}
+	return kv.(KV)
+}
diff --git a/mlog/errctx_test.go b/mlog/errctx_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72ce0da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlog/errctx_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package mlog
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	. "testing"
+
+	"github.com/ansel1/merry"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestErrKV(t *T) {
+	assertErrKV := func(err error, exp KV) {
+		got := KV(ErrKV(err).KV())
+		errSrc := got["errSrc"]
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, errSrc)
+		assert.True(t, strings.HasPrefix(errSrc.(string), "mlog/errctx_test.go"))
+		delete(got, "errSrc")
+		assert.Equal(t, exp, got)
+	}
+
+	err := merry.New("foo")
+	assertErrKV(err, KV{"err": err.Error()})
+
+	kv := KV{"a": "a"}
+	err2 := ErrWithKV(err, kv)
+	assertErrKV(err, KV{"err": err.Error()})
+	assertErrKV(err2, KV{"err": err.Error(), "a": "a"})
+
+	// changing the kv now shouldn't do anything
+	kv["a"] = "b"
+	assertErrKV(err, KV{"err": err.Error()})
+	assertErrKV(err2, KV{"err": err.Error(), "a": "a"})
+
+	// a new ErrWithKV shouldn't affect the previous one
+	err3 := ErrWithKV(err2, KV{"b": "b"})
+	assertErrKV(err, KV{"err": err.Error()})
+	assertErrKV(err2, KV{"err": err2.Error(), "a": "a"})
+	assertErrKV(err3, KV{"err": err3.Error(), "a": "a", "b": "b"})
+
+	// make sure precedence works
+	err4 := ErrWithKV(err3, KV{"b": "bb"})
+	assertErrKV(err, KV{"err": err.Error()})
+	assertErrKV(err2, KV{"err": err2.Error(), "a": "a"})
+	assertErrKV(err3, KV{"err": err3.Error(), "a": "a", "b": "b"})
+	assertErrKV(err4, KV{"err": err4.Error(), "a": "a", "b": "bb"})
+}
+
+func TestCtxKV(t *T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{}, CtxKV(ctx))
+
+	kv := KV{"a": "a"}
+	ctx2 := CtxWithKV(ctx, kv)
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{}, CtxKV(ctx))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a"}, CtxKV(ctx2))
+
+	// changing the kv now shouldn't do anything
+	kv["a"] = "b"
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{}, CtxKV(ctx))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a"}, CtxKV(ctx2))
+
+	// a new CtxWithKV shouldn't affect the previous one
+	ctx3 := CtxWithKV(ctx2, KV{"b": "b"})
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{}, CtxKV(ctx))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a"}, CtxKV(ctx2))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a", "b": "b"}, CtxKV(ctx3))
+
+	// make sure precedence works
+	ctx4 := CtxWithKV(ctx3, KV{"b": "bb"})
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{}, CtxKV(ctx))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a"}, CtxKV(ctx2))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a", "b": "b"}, CtxKV(ctx3))
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"a": "a", "b": "bb"}, CtxKV(ctx4))
+}
diff --git a/mlog/llog.go b/mlog/llog.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..188f96c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlog/llog.go
@@ -0,0 +1,334 @@
+// Package mlog is a generic logging library. The log methods come in different
+// severities: Debug, Info, Warn, Error, and Fatal.
+//
+// The log methods take in a string describing the error, and a set of key/value
+// pairs giving the specific context around the error. The string is intended to
+// always be the same no matter what, while the key/value pairs give information
+// like which userID the error happened to, or any other relevant contextual
+// information.
+//
+// Examples:
+//
+//	Info("Something important has occurred")
+//	Error("Could not open file", llog.KV{"filename": filename}, llog.ErrKV(err))
+//
+package mlog
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+)
+
+// Truncate is a helper function to truncate a string to a given size. It will
+// add 3 trailing elipses, so the returned string will be at most size+3
+// characters long
+func Truncate(s string, size int) string {
+	if len(s) <= size {
+		return s
+	}
+	return s[:size] + "..."
+}
+
+// Level describes the severity of a particular log message, and can be compared
+// to the severity of any other Level
+type Level interface {
+	// String gives the string form of the level, e.g. "INFO" or "ERROR"
+	String() string
+
+	// Uint gives an integer indicator of the severity of the level, with zero
+	// being most severe. If a Level with Uint of zero is logged then the Logger
+	// implementation provided by this package will exit the process (i.e. zero
+	// is used as Fatal).
+	Uint() uint
+}
+
+type level struct {
+	s string
+	i uint
+}
+
+func (l level) String() string {
+	return l.s
+}
+
+func (l level) Uint() uint {
+	return l.i
+}
+
+// All pre-defined log levels
+var (
+	DebugLevel Level = level{s: "DEBUG", i: 40}
+	InfoLevel  Level = level{s: "INFO", i: 30}
+	WarnLevel  Level = level{s: "WARN", i: 20}
+	ErrorLevel Level = level{s: "ERROR", i: 10}
+	FatalLevel Level = level{s: "FATAL", i: 0}
+)
+
+// LevelFromString parses a string, possibly lowercase, and returns the Level
+// identified by it, or an error.
+//
+// Note that this only works for the Levels pre-defined in this package, if
+// you've extended the package to use your own levels you'll have to implement
+// your own LevelFromString method.
+func LevelFromString(ls string) (Level, error) {
+	var l Level
+	switch strings.ToUpper(ls) {
+	case "DEBUG":
+		l = DebugLevel
+	case "INFO":
+		l = InfoLevel
+	case "WARN":
+		l = WarnLevel
+	case "ERROR":
+		l = ErrorLevel
+	case "FATAL":
+		l = FatalLevel
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown log level %q", ls)
+	}
+
+	return l, nil
+}
+
+// KVer is used to provide context to a log entry in the form of a dynamic set
+// of key/value pairs which can be different for every entry.
+//
+// Each returned map should be modifiable.
+type KVer interface {
+	KV() map[string]interface{}
+}
+
+// KV is a simple and convenient implementation of KVer
+type KV map[string]interface{}
+
+// KV implements the KVer method by returning a copy of the casted KV
+func (kv KV) KV() map[string]interface{} {
+	nkv := make(map[string]interface{}, len(kv))
+	for k, v := range kv {
+		nkv[k] = v
+	}
+	return nkv
+}
+
+// Set returns a copy of the KV being called on with the given key/val set on
+// it. The original KV is unaffected
+func (kv KV) Set(k string, v interface{}) KV {
+	nkv := kv.KV()
+	nkv[k] = v
+	return nkv
+}
+
+// separate from Merge because it's convenient to not return a KVer if that KVer
+// is going to immediately have KV called on it (and thereby create a copy for
+// no reason).
+func merge(kvs ...KVer) KV {
+	kvm := kvs[0].KV()
+	for _, kv := range kvs[1:] {
+		for k, v := range kv.KV() {
+			kvm[k] = v
+		}
+	}
+	return KV(kvm)
+}
+
+// Merge takes in multiple KVers and returns a single KVer which is the union of
+// all the passed in ones. Key/vals on the rightmost of the set take precedence
+// over conflicting ones to the left.
+func Merge(kvs ...KVer) KVer {
+	return merge(kvs...)
+}
+
+// Message describes a message to be logged, after having already resolved the
+// KVer
+type Message struct {
+	Level
+	Msg string
+	KV  KV
+}
+
+// WriteFn describes a function which formats a single log message and writes it
+// to the given io.Writer. If the io.Writer returns an error this should return
+// that error.
+type WriteFn func(w io.Writer, msg Message) error
+
+func stringSlice(kv KV) [][2]string {
+	slice := make([][2]string, 0, len(kv))
+	for k, v := range kv {
+		slice = append(slice, [2]string{
+			k,
+			strconv.QuoteToGraphic(fmt.Sprint(v)),
+		})
+	}
+	sort.Slice(slice, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return slice[i][0] < slice[j][0]
+	})
+	return slice
+}
+
+// DefaultWriteFn is the default implementation of WriteFn.
+func DefaultWriteFn(w io.Writer, msg Message) error {
+	var err error
+	write := func(s string, args ...interface{}) {
+		if err == nil {
+			_, err = fmt.Fprintf(w, s, args...)
+		}
+	}
+	write("~ %s -- %s", msg.Level.String(), msg.Msg)
+	if len(msg.KV) > 0 {
+		write(" --")
+		for _, kve := range stringSlice(msg.KV) {
+			write(" %s=%s", kve[0], kve[1])
+		}
+	}
+	write("\n")
+	return err
+}
+
+// Logger wraps a WriteFn and an io.WriteCloser such that logging calls on the
+// Logger will use them (in a thread-safe manner) to write out log messages.
+//
+// Logger will auto-initialize itself on the first method call.
+type Logger struct {
+	WriteFn        // Defaults to DefaultWriteFn
+	io.WriteCloser // Defaults to os.Stderr
+
+	levelL      sync.RWMutex
+	maxLevel    uint
+	maxLevelSet bool
+
+	init             sync.Once
+	msgCh            chan Message
+	testMsgWrittenCh chan struct{} // only initialized/used in tests
+}
+
+func (l *Logger) getMaxLevel() uint {
+	l.levelL.RLock()
+	defer l.levelL.RUnlock()
+	if !l.maxLevelSet {
+		return InfoLevel.Uint()
+	}
+	return l.maxLevel
+}
+
+// SetMaxLevelUint sets the maximum (up-to-and-including) level priority which
+// the Logger will output a log for. Any Levels with an Uint value higher than
+// this will not be logged. This may be called at any time.
+func (l *Logger) SetMaxLevelUint(i uint) {
+	l.levelL.Lock()
+	l.maxLevel = i
+	l.maxLevelSet = true
+	l.levelL.Unlock()
+}
+
+// SetMaxLevel sets the maximum (up-to-and-including) Level which the Logger
+// will output a log for. Any Levels whose Uint value is higher than this one's
+// will not be logged. This may be called at any time.
+func (l *Logger) SetMaxLevel(lvl Level) {
+	l.SetMaxLevelUint(lvl.Uint())
+}
+
+func (l *Logger) spin() {
+	for msg := range l.msgCh {
+		if err := l.WriteFn(l.WriteCloser, msg); err != nil {
+			go l.Error("could not write to Logger.WriteCloser", ErrKV(err))
+		}
+		if l.testMsgWrittenCh != nil {
+			l.testMsgWrittenCh <- struct{}{}
+		}
+		if msg.Level.Uint() == 0 {
+			l.WriteCloser.Close()
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}
+	l.WriteCloser.Close()
+}
+
+func (l *Logger) initDo() {
+	l.init.Do(func() {
+		if l.WriteFn == nil {
+			l.WriteFn = DefaultWriteFn
+		}
+		if l.WriteCloser == nil {
+			l.WriteCloser = os.Stderr
+		}
+		// maxLevel's default is implicitly handled by getMaxLevel
+		l.msgCh = make(chan Message, 1000)
+		go l.spin()
+	})
+}
+
+// Stop stops and cleans up any running go-routines and resources held by the
+// Logger, allowing it to be garbage-collected. The Logger should not be used
+// after Stop is called
+func (l *Logger) Stop() {
+	l.initDo()
+	close(l.msgCh)
+}
+
+// Log can be used to manually log a message of some custom defined Level. kvs
+// will be Merge'd automatically. If the Level is a fatal (Uint() == 0) then
+// calling this will never return, and the process will have os.Exit(1) called.
+func (l *Logger) Log(lvl Level, msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	if maxLevel := l.getMaxLevel(); maxLevel < lvl.Uint() {
+		return
+	}
+
+	var kv KV
+	if len(kvs) > 0 {
+		kv = merge(kvs...)
+	}
+
+	l.initDo()
+	l.msgCh <- Message{Level: lvl, Msg: msg, KV: kv}
+
+	// if a Fatal is logged then we're merely waiting here for spin to call
+	// os.Exit, and this go-routine shouldn't be allowed to continue
+	if lvl.Uint() == 0 {
+		select {}
+	}
+}
+
+// Debug logs a DebugLevel message, merging the KVers together first
+func (l *Logger) Debug(msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	l.Log(DebugLevel, msg, kvs...)
+}
+
+// Info logs a InfoLevel message, merging the KVers together first
+func (l *Logger) Info(msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	l.Log(InfoLevel, msg, kvs...)
+}
+
+// Warn logs a WarnLevel message, merging the KVers together first
+func (l *Logger) Warn(msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	l.Log(WarnLevel, msg, kvs...)
+}
+
+// Error logs a ErrorLevel message, merging the KVers together first
+func (l *Logger) Error(msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	l.Log(ErrorLevel, msg, kvs...)
+}
+
+// Fatal logs a FatalLevel message, merging the KVers together first. A Fatal
+// message automatically stops the process with an os.Exit(1)
+func (l *Logger) Fatal(msg string, kvs ...KVer) {
+	l.Log(FatalLevel, msg, kvs...)
+}
+
+// DefaultLogger is a Logger using the default configuration (which will log to
+// stderr). The Debug, Info, Warn, etc... methods from DefaultLogger are exposed
+// as global functions for convenience. Because Logger is not truly initialized
+// till the first time it is called any of DefaultLogger's fields may be
+// modified before using one of the Debug, Info, Warn, etc... global functions.
+var (
+	DefaultLogger = new(Logger)
+	Debug         = DefaultLogger.Debug
+	Info          = DefaultLogger.Info
+	Warn          = DefaultLogger.Warn
+	Error         = DefaultLogger.Error
+	Fatal         = DefaultLogger.Fatal
+)
diff --git a/mlog/llog_test.go b/mlog/llog_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd5b92d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlog/llog_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package mlog
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"regexp"
+	. "testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestTruncate(t *T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, "abc", Truncate("abc", 4))
+	assert.Equal(t, "abc", Truncate("abc", 3))
+	assert.Equal(t, "ab...", Truncate("abc", 2))
+}
+
+func TestKV(t *T) {
+	var kv KV
+	assert.NotNil(t, kv.KV())
+	assert.Empty(t, kv.KV())
+
+	kv = KV{"foo": "a"}
+	kv2 := KV(kv.KV())
+	kv["bar"] = "b"
+	kv2["bar"] = "bb"
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "b"}, kv)
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "bb"}, kv2)
+
+	kv = KV{"foo": "a"}
+	kv2 = kv.Set("bar", "wat")
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"foo": "a"}, kv)
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "wat"}, kv2)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "b"}, Merge(
+		KV{"foo": "aaaaa"},
+		KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "bbbbb"},
+		KV{"bar": "b"},
+	))
+}
+
+func TestLLog(t *T) {
+	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	l := &Logger{
+		WriteCloser: struct {
+			io.Writer
+			io.Closer
+		}{
+			Writer: buf,
+			Closer: ioutil.NopCloser(nil),
+		},
+		testMsgWrittenCh: make(chan struct{}, 10),
+	}
+
+	assertOut := func(expected string) {
+		select {
+		case <-l.testMsgWrittenCh:
+		case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
+			t.Fatal("waited too long for msg to write")
+		}
+		out, err := buf.ReadString('\n')
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, expected, out)
+	}
+
+	// Default max level should be INFO
+	l.Log(DebugLevel, "foo")
+	l.Log(InfoLevel, "bar")
+	l.Log(WarnLevel, "baz")
+	l.Log(ErrorLevel, "buz")
+	assertOut("~ INFO -- bar\n")
+	assertOut("~ WARN -- baz\n")
+	assertOut("~ ERROR -- buz\n")
+
+	l.SetMaxLevel(WarnLevel)
+	l.Log(DebugLevel, "foo")
+	l.Log(InfoLevel, "bar")
+	l.Log(WarnLevel, "baz")
+	l.Log(ErrorLevel, "buz", KV{"a": "b"})
+	assertOut("~ WARN -- baz\n")
+	assertOut("~ ERROR -- buz -- a=\"b\"\n")
+}
+
+func TestDefaultWriteFn(t *T) {
+	assertFormat := func(postfix string, msg Message) {
+		expectedRegex := regexp.MustCompile(`^~ ` + postfix + `\n$`)
+		buf := bytes.NewBuffer(make([]byte, 0, 128))
+		assert.NoError(t, DefaultWriteFn(buf, msg))
+		line, err := buf.ReadString('\n')
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.True(t, expectedRegex.MatchString(line), "regex: %q line: %q", expectedRegex.String(), line)
+	}
+
+	msg := Message{Level: InfoLevel, Msg: "this is a test"}
+	assertFormat("INFO -- this is a test", msg)
+
+	msg.KV = KV{}.KV()
+	assertFormat("INFO -- this is a test", msg)
+
+	msg.KV = KV{"foo": "a"}.KV()
+	assertFormat("INFO -- this is a test -- foo=\"a\"", msg)
+
+	msg.KV = KV{"foo": "a", "bar": "b"}.KV()
+	assertFormat("INFO -- this is a test -- bar=\"b\" foo=\"a\"", msg)
+}