diff --git a/util/util.lisp b/util/util.lisp
index 95ad263..484cfab 100644
--- a/util/util.lisp
+++ b/util/util.lisp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   (:use :common-lisp)
   (:local-nicknames (:b64 :qbase64))
   #+sbcl (:import-from :sb-ext #:add-package-local-nickname)
-  (:export #:make-vars-format #:lg #:lgd #:lgi #:lgw
+  (:export #:make-vars-format #:lg #:lgd #:lgi #:lgw #:lgx
            #:from-unix-time #:to-unix-time
            #:ptr
            #:rfill #:rtrim 
@@ -32,7 +32,14 @@
 (defmacro lgi (&rest vars) `(lg :info nil ,@vars))
 (defmacro lgw (info &rest vars) `(lg :warn ,info ,@vars))
 
-;;;; date and time manipulations
+(defun lgx (op &key (stream t))
+  "trace invocation of op for debugging purposes"
+  (lambda (&rest args)
+   (let ((r (apply op args)))
+    (format stream "~&(~a ~a) = ~a~%" op args r)
+    r)))
+
+ ;;;; date and time manipulations
 
 (defconstant +unix-time-base+ (encode-universal-time 0 0 0 1 1 1970 0))