diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index d37098b..242df33 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
-* add lambda support
-* add outfile tracking to docker containers and instances and docker groups
+* start docker containers via method on Machine()
+  * control and automate logfiles
+  * add logfile for `docker events`
+
diff --git a/minerva/__init__.py b/minerva/__init__.py
index b0bd4ff..67302d2 100644
--- a/minerva/__init__.py
+++ b/minerva/__init__.py
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@ from .helpers import parallel_map, load_template, load_sql, cluster_pool, AWS_IN
 from .athena   import Athena
 from .redshift import Redshift
 from .s3       import S3
+from .lambda_func import Lambda
 
 from .docker   import Docker
-from .remote   import Remote
+from .remote   import Remote, Logset
 from .machine  import Machine
 from .pier     import Pier
-from .pool     import Pool, TempOuts
+from .pool     import Pool
+from .command  import Command
 
 from .timing   import Timing
 
@@ -29,7 +31,9 @@ __all__ = [
     "AWS_INSTANCES",
     "Pool",
     "Remote",
-    "TempOuts",
-    "Timing"
+    "Logset",
+    "Timing",
+    "Lambda",
+    "Command"
 ]
 
diff --git a/minerva/command.py b/minerva/command.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc31120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/minerva/command.py
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+import threading
+import select
+import io
+import sys
+import minerva.remote
+import tempfile
+
+
+def flush_data(data, pipe, display=None):
+    pipe.write(data)
+    pipe.flush()
+    if display:
+        display.write(data)
+        display.flush()
+
+
+class Command:
+    def __init__(self, machine, command, disown=False, watch=False, logset=(None, None)):
+        self.machine = machine
+        self.command = command
+        self.disown  = disown
+        self.watch   = watch
+        self.logset  = logset
+        self.thread  = None
+
+
+    # Unfortunately, under the hood, it's running /bin/bash -c '...'
+    # You stand informed
+    #
+    # This creates a pseudo-TTY on the other end
+    #
+    # `watch` means it'll print the output live, else it'll return the
+    #    output (stdout, stderr) streams and the thread
+    # `disown` means it'll run in the background
+    #
+    # https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/issues/593#issuecomment-145377328
+    #
+    def execute(self):
+        stdin, stdout, stderr = self.machine.ssh.client.exec_command(self.command)
+
+        # this is the same for all three inputs
+        channel = stdin.channel
+
+        # regular TemporaryFile doesn't work for some reason, even with
+        # explicit flush(). I think it's because it doesn't actually create
+        # a file on disk until enough input has been gathered.
+        #
+        # A flush is required after every write
+        # Leave the files so that the readers can work even after the writers
+        # are done
+        #
+        # Thanks to SirDonNick in #python for the help here
+
+        # Support for passing a logset object or manually specifying the outfiles
+        out = self.logset[0] or tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+        err = self.logset[1] or tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+
+        # just in case it was (None, None) when passed in, we want to save the outputs
+        # this is admittedly changing the datatype of what was supplied from open file
+        # handles to strings
+        self.logset = (out.name, err.name)
+
+        # Taken from
+        # https://stackoverflow.com/a/78765054
+        # and then improved/cleaned up
+
+        # we do not need stdin.
+        stdin.close()
+        # indicate that we're not going to write to that channel anymore
+        channel.shutdown_write()
+
+        timeout = 60
+
+        def fill_buffers(out, err):
+            # perform chunked read to prevent stalls
+            while (not channel.closed
+                    or channel.recv_ready()
+                    or channel.recv_stderr_ready()):
+                # stop if channel was closed prematurely and buffers are empty
+                got_chunk = False
+
+                readq, _, _ = select.select([channel], [], [], timeout)
+
+                # returns three empty lists on timeout
+                if not readq:
+                    break
+                for c in readq:
+                    if c.recv_ready():
+                        flush_data(channel.recv(len(c.in_buffer)),
+                                   out,
+                                   (self.watch and sys.stdout.buffer))
+                        got_chunk = True
+
+                    if c.recv_stderr_ready():
+                        flush_data(channel.recv_stderr(len(c.in_stderr_buffer)),
+                                   err,
+                                   (self.watch and sys.stderr.buffer))
+                        got_chunk = True
+                # for c
+
+                """
+                1) make sure that there are at least 2 cycles with no data in the input
+                    buffers in order to not exit too early; i.e., cat on a >200k file
+                2) if no data arrived in the last loop, check if we received exit code
+                3) check if input buffers are empty
+                4) exit the loop
+                """
+                if (not got_chunk
+                        and channel.exit_status_ready()
+                        and not channel.recv_stderr_ready()
+                        and not channel.recv_ready()):
+                    # indicate that we're not going to read from this channel anymore
+                    channel.shutdown_read()
+                    # close the channel
+                    channel.close()
+                    # remote side is finished and our buffers are empty
+                    break
+                    # if
+
+            # Don't close these because we want to reuse logfiles
+            #out.close()
+            #err.close()
+
+            # while
+
+            # close the pseudofiles
+            stdout.close()
+            stderr.close()
+
+        self.thread = threading.Thread(target = fill_buffers,
+                                       args   = (out, err))
+        self.thread.start()
+
+        if not self.disown:
+            print(f"running: {self.command}")
+            print(self.logset)
+            self.thread.join()
+
+
diff --git a/minerva/docker.py b/minerva/docker.py
index 4132485..c1c2986 100644
--- a/minerva/docker.py
+++ b/minerva/docker.py
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 import threading
 
 class Docker:
-    def __init__(self, container, machine=None, variables={}, stdout=None, stderr=None):
+    def __init__(self, container, machine=None, variables={}, logset=(None, None)):
         self.machine   = machine
         self.uri       = container
         self.variables = variables
         self.finished  = False
-        self.stdout    = stdout
-        self.stderr    = stderr
+        self.logset    = logset
         self.out       = {"stdout": None,
                           "stderr": None}
         self.registry  = container.split("/")[0]
@@ -42,12 +41,12 @@ class Docker:
         self.machine.login()
 
         if self.registry.endswith("amazonaws.com"):
-            self.machine.aws_docker_login(self.registry)
+            self.machine.aws_docker_login(self.registry, logset=self.logset)
 
         res = self.machine.docker_run(self.uri,
                                       cmd    = cmd,
                                       env    = self.variables,
-                                      output = (self.stdout, self.stderr))
+                                      logset = self.logset)
 
         #self.out["stdout"] = res[0].name
         #self.out["stderr"] = res[1].name
@@ -61,6 +60,8 @@ class Docker:
         self.finished = True
         print(f"finished on {self.machine.name}")
 
+        return res
+
     def terminate(self):
         self.machine.terminate()
 
diff --git a/minerva/lambda.py b/minerva/lambda.py
deleted file mode 100644
index a9889e8..0000000
--- a/minerva/lambda.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-import json
-
-class Lambda:
-    def __init__(self, handler, name):
-        self.handler = handler
-        self.name    = name
-        self.client  = handler.session.client("lambda")
-
-    def invoke(self, payload):
-        self.client.invoke(InvocationType = "RequestResponse",
-                           FunctionName   = self.name,
-                           Payload        = json.dumps(payload) or "{}")
-
diff --git a/minerva/lambda_func.py b/minerva/lambda_func.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0112e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/minerva/lambda_func.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import json
+
+# TODO change the default timeout
+class Lambda:
+    def __init__(self, handler, name):
+        self.handler = handler
+        self.name    = name
+        self.client  = handler.session.client("lambda")
+
+    def invoke(self, payload, asynchronous=False):
+        asyn = (asynchronous and "Event") or "RequestResponse"
+
+        return self.client.invoke(InvocationType = asyn,
+                                  FunctionName   = self.name,
+                                  Payload        = json.dumps(payload) or "{}")
+
+
+    def update(self, **kwargs):
+        return self.client.update_function_code(FunctionName = self.name,
+                                                **kwargs)
+
diff --git a/minerva/machine.py b/minerva/machine.py
index 4b6502c..b6058f2 100644
--- a/minerva/machine.py
+++ b/minerva/machine.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import math
 import datetime
 #from pexpect import pxssh
 from fabric import Connection
+import paramiko.ssh_exception
 import shlex
 import threading
 import os
@@ -16,11 +17,13 @@ class Machine(minerva.Remote):
                  instance_type = "t2.micro",
                  variables     = {},
                  username      = None,
-                 key_pair      = None,
+                 key_pair      = (None, None),
                  name          = "Minerva Instance",
                  public        = True,
                  disk_size     = 8):
 
+        super().__init__(None, username, key_pair[1], name)
+
         self.pier        = pier
         self.ami         = ami
         self.instance_type = instance_type
@@ -36,6 +39,7 @@ class Machine(minerva.Remote):
         self.terminated  = False
         self.public      = public
         self.disk_size   = disk_size
+        self.ip          = None # tracking which IP we're using for our connection
 
 
     def create(self):
@@ -46,7 +50,7 @@ class Machine(minerva.Remote):
         res = self.pier.ec2.run_instances(
             ImageId      = self.ami,
             InstanceType = self.instance_type,
-            KeyName      = self.key_pair or self.pier.key_pair_name,
+            KeyName      = self.key_pair[0] or self.pier.key_pair_name,
             MinCount     = 1,
             MaxCount     = 1,
             TagSpecifications = [{'ResourceType': 'instance',
@@ -103,10 +107,7 @@ class Machine(minerva.Remote):
                 reason = f"{self.info['InstanceId']} took too long to start ({i} attempts)"
                 raise Exception(reason)
 
-        # Final wait, now that the server is up and running -- need
-        # some time for daemons to start
-        time.sleep(35)
-        self.ready = True
+        self.started = datetime.datetime.now()
 
 
     # alternatively, could maybe implement this with SSM so that we can access
@@ -127,15 +128,29 @@ class Machine(minerva.Remote):
 
         print(f"\t{self.name} ({self.info['InstanceId']}\t- {self.instance_type}) => {self.public_ip} ({self.private_ip})")
 
-        ip = self.public_ip or self.private_ip
-        self.ssh = Connection(ip,
+        self.ip = self.public_ip or self.private_ip
+        self.ssh = Connection(self.ip,
                               self.username,
                               connect_kwargs = {
-                                  "key_filename": self.pier.key_path
+                                  "key_filename": self.key_pair[1] #self.pier.key_path
                               }
                              )
-        self.ssh.open()
-        self.started = datetime.datetime.now()
+
+        i = 0
+        max_wait = 120
+        # Time for the server to get SSH up and running
+        while True:
+            try:
+                self.ssh.open()
+                break
+
+            except paramiko.ssh_exception.NoValidConnectionsError:
+                time.sleep(10)
+                i += 1
+
+                if i > (max_wait / 10):
+                    reason = f"{self.info['InstanceId']} took too long to start ssh ({i} attempts)"
+                    raise Exception(reason)
 
         return True
 
diff --git a/minerva/minerva.py b/minerva/minerva.py
index 1480817..231afde 100644
--- a/minerva/minerva.py
+++ b/minerva/minerva.py
@@ -28,3 +28,7 @@ class Minerva:
         return m.Pier(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
 
+    def lambda_func(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return m.Lambda(self, *args, **kwargs)
+
+
diff --git a/minerva/pier.py b/minerva/pier.py
index ebb64e0..24de4cf 100644
--- a/minerva/pier.py
+++ b/minerva/pier.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import pprint
 from minerva.machine import Machine
 from minerva.cluster import Cluster
 
+from fabric import Connection
+
 pp = pprint.PrettyPrinter(indent=4)
 
 # Used for interacting with AWS
@@ -51,6 +53,31 @@ class Pier:
         return Machine(self, **kwargs)
 
 
+    # TODO make this fetch the instance id from the IP (filtered from the list
+    # of all instances)
+    def from_ip(self, ip, username, key_path=None, name=None):
+        mach = Machine(self, username=username)
+
+        mach.username  = username
+        mach.public_ip = ip
+        mach.ip        = ip
+
+        if key_path:
+            mach.key_pair = ("", key_path)
+        else:
+            mach.key_pair = (self.key_pair_name, self.key_path)
+
+        mach.ssh = Connection(ip,
+                              username,
+                              connect_kwargs = {
+                                  "key_filename": mach.key_pair[1]
+                              }
+                             )
+        mach.ssh.open()
+
+        return mach
+
+
     def t3_med(self, num):
         return self.machine(ami           = "ami-0a538467cc9da9bb2",
                             instance_type = "t3.medium",
diff --git a/minerva/pool.py b/minerva/pool.py
index 3724592..5ebc23e 100644
--- a/minerva/pool.py
+++ b/minerva/pool.py
@@ -74,30 +74,3 @@ class Pool:
         return sum([mach.cost() for mach in self.machines])
 
 
-class TempOuts:
-    def __init__(self, directory, prefix):
-        self.directory = directory
-        self.prefix    = prefix
-        self.stdout    = None
-        self.stderr    = None
-
-
-    def __enter__(self):
-        try:
-            os.mkdir(self.directory)
-        except:
-            pass
-
-        path = os.path.join(self.directory, self.prefix)
-
-        self.stdout = open(f"{path}_stdout.out", "ab")
-        self.stderr = open(f"{path}_stderr.out", "ab")
-
-        return (self.stdout, self.stderr)
-
-
-    def __exit__(self, exception_type, exception_value, exception_traceback):
-        self.stdout.close()
-        self.stderr.close()
-
-
diff --git a/minerva/remote.py b/minerva/remote.py
index 87ddfcc..86d4fb0 100644
--- a/minerva/remote.py
+++ b/minerva/remote.py
@@ -1,29 +1,25 @@
 from fabric import Connection
 import os
-import sys
-import threading
-import select
-import tempfile
-import io
 import shlex
+import random
 
-def flush_data(data, pipe, display=None):
-    pipe.write(data)
-    pipe.flush()
-    if display:
-        display.write(data)
-        display.flush()
+import minerva.docker as d
+import minerva.command as c
 
 # Bare machine, not necessarily associated with AWS
 class Remote:
     def __init__(self,
                  ip,
                  username,
-                 key_path):
+                 key_path,
+                 name = None):
         self.ip       = ip
+        self.name     = name or ip
         self.username = username
-        self.key_path = os.path.expanduser(key_path) # full path
+        self.key_path = key_path and os.path.expanduser(key_path) # full path
         self.ssh      = None
+        self.logsets  = []
+        self.history  = []
 
     def login(self):
         if self.ssh:
@@ -44,127 +40,22 @@ class Remote:
         return "; ".join([*base, *varz])
 
 
-    # Unfortunately, under the hood, it's running /bin/bash -c '...'
-    # You stand informed
-    #
-    # This creates a pseudo-TTY on the other end
-    #
-    # `watch` means it'll print the output live, else it'll return the
-    #    output (stdout, stderr) streams and the thread
-    # `disown` means it'll run in the background
-    #
-    # https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/issues/593#issuecomment-145377328
-    #
-    def cmd(self, command, hide=True, disown=False, watch=False, output=(None, None)):
-        # TODO this is necessary to load paramiko details
-        #self.ssh.run("echo hello world", warn=True, hide=hide, disown=disown)
+    def cmd(self, command, disown = False,
+                           watch  = False,
+                           logset = (None, None)):
 
-        stdin, stdout, stderr = self.ssh.client.exec_command(command)
-
-        # this is the same for all three inputs
-        channel = stdin.channel
-
-        # regular TemporaryFile doesn't work for some reason, even with
-        # explicit flush(). I think it's because it doesn't actually create
-        # a file on disk until enough input has been gathered.
-        #
-        # A flush is required after every write
-        # Leave the files so that the readers can work even after the writers
-        # are done
-        #
-        # Thanks to SirDonNick in #python for the help here
-        out = output[0] or tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
-        err = output[1] or tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
-
-        print(command)
-        print(f"\t{out.name} -- {err.name}")
-
-        # Taken from
-        # https://stackoverflow.com/a/78765054
-        # and then improved/cleaned up
-
-        # we do not need stdin.
-        stdin.close()
-        # indicate that we're not going to write to that channel anymore
-        channel.shutdown_write()
-
-        ## read stdout/stderr to prevent read block hangs
-        #flush_data(channel.recv(len(channel.in_buffer)),
-        #           out,
-        #           (watch and sys.stdout.buffer))
-
-        #flush_data(channel.recv_stderr(len(channel.in_stderr_buffer)),
-        #           err,
-        #           (watch and sys.stderr.buffer))
-
-        timeout = 60
-
-        def fill_buffers(out, err):
-            # perform chunked read to prevent stalls
-            while (not channel.closed
-                    or channel.recv_ready()
-                    or channel.recv_stderr_ready()):
-                # stop if channel was closed prematurely and buffers are empty
-                got_chunk = False
-
-                readq, _, _ = select.select([channel], [], [], timeout)
-
-                # returns three empty lists on timeout
-                if not readq:
-                    break
-                for c in readq:
-                    if c.recv_ready():
-                        flush_data(channel.recv(len(c.in_buffer)),
-                                   out,
-                                   (watch and sys.stdout.buffer))
-                        got_chunk = True
-
-                    if c.recv_stderr_ready():
-                        flush_data(channel.recv_stderr(len(c.in_stderr_buffer)),
-                                   err,
-                                   (watch and sys.stderr.buffer))
-                        got_chunk = True
-                # for c
-
-                """
-                1) make sure that there are at least 2 cycles with no data in the input
-                    buffers in order to not exit too early; i.e., cat on a >200k file
-                2) if no data arrived in the last loop, check if we received exit code
-                3) check if input buffers are empty
-                4) exit the loop
-                """
-                if (not got_chunk
-                        and channel.exit_status_ready()
-                        and not channel.recv_stderr_ready()
-                        and not channel.recv_ready()):
-                    # indicate that we're not going to read from this channel anymore
-                    channel.shutdown_read()
-                    # close the channel
-                    channel.close()
-                    # remote side is finished and our buffers are empty
-                    break
-                    # if
-            out.close()
-            err.close()
-            # while
-
-            # close the pseudofiles
-            stdout.close()
-            stderr.close()
-
-        thread = threading.Thread(target = fill_buffers,
-                                  args   = (out, err))
-        thread.start()
-
-        if not disown:
-            thread.join()
-
-        return (open(out.name, "rb"), open(err.name, "rb"), thread)
+        command = c.Command(self, command, disown = disown,
+                                           watch  = watch,
+                                           logset = logset)
+        self.history.append(command)
+        command.execute()
+        return command
 
 
-    def write_env_file(self, variables, fname="~/env.list", output=(None, None)):
+    # maybe turn this into a `cat > filename` and write directly to stdin
+    def write_env_file(self, variables, fname="~/env.list", logset=(None, None)):
         vals = "\n".join([f"{var}={val}" for var, val in variables.items()])
-        self.cmd(f"echo {shlex.quote(vals)} > {fname}", output=output)
+        self.cmd(f"echo {shlex.quote(vals)} > {fname}", logset=logset)
         return fname
 
 
@@ -173,22 +64,70 @@ class Remote:
         return docker
 
 
-    def aws_docker_login(self, ecr, output=(None, None)):
+    def aws_docker_login(self, ecr, logset=(None, None)):
         return self.cmd(f"aws ecr get-login-password --region {self.pier.session.region_name} | " +
                         f"docker login --username AWS --password-stdin {ecr}",
-                        output=output)
+                        logset=logset)
 
 
-    def docker_run(self, uri, cmd="", env={}, output=(None, None)):
+    def docker_run(self, uri, cmd="", env={}, logset=(None, None)):
         if env:
-            fname   = self.write_env_file(env)
+            fname   = self.write_env_file(env, logset=logset)
             environ = f"--env-file {fname}"
         else:
             environ = ""
 
-        return self.cmd(f"docker run -t {environ} {uri} {cmd}", output=output)
+        return self.cmd(f"docker run -t {environ} {uri} {cmd}", logset=logset)
 
 
-    def docker_pull(self, uri, output=(None, None)):
-        return self.cmd(f"docker pull {uri}", output=output)
+    def docker_pull(self, uri, logset=(None, None)):
+        return self.cmd(f"docker pull {uri}", logset=logset)
+
+
+    def docker(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return d.Docker(machine = self, *args, **kwargs)
+
+
+    def stream_logs(self, job_id=None, hold_open=False):
+        ls = Logset(self, job_id, hold_open)
+        self.logsets.append(ls)
+        return ls
+
+
+    def track_docker_events(self):
+        with self.stream_logs(hold_open = True) as logset:
+            print(f"docker events at: {logset[0].name}")
+            self.docker_events = self.cmd("docker events", disown=True, logset=logset)
+
+
+class Logset:
+    def __init__(self, machine, job_id=None, hold_open=False):
+        self.job_id    = job_id or "job-%0.6f" % random.random()
+        self.machine   = machine
+        self.directory = f"/tmp/{machine.ip}"
+        self.stdout    = None
+        self.stderr    = None
+        self.hold_open = hold_open # useful for getting a logset for a background command
+
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        try:
+            os.mkdir(self.directory)
+        except:
+            pass
+
+        # this had better not already exist
+        path = os.path.join(self.directory, self.job_id)
+        os.mkdir(path)
+
+        self.stdout = open(os.path.join(path, "stdout.out"), "ab")
+        self.stderr = open(os.path.join(path, "stderr.out"), "ab")
+
+        return (self.stdout, self.stderr)
+
+
+    def __exit__(self, exception_type, exception_value, exception_traceback):
+        if not self.hold_open:
+            self.stdout.close()
+            self.stderr.close()