We have some of the Sauer and O'Sullivan bookcases and my computer desk. The bookcases *work*, but I really hate them. The best furniture we have would be considered "antiques", but it's really just hand-me-downs, solid woods and sturdy frames. I so envy a friend who has a gigantor bookshelf unit in her living room--solid wood, that she found with about five coats of paint on it, stacked full of paint cans and tools in her dad's workshop. She stripped it and stained it and finished it with a rubbed-wax finish, and it is glorious.

Back to flirting vs. hitting on for a minute (I'm catching up, sue me). My cat flirts, and he doesn't want to get busy, he just wants attention. Babies flirt, for the same reason. And my 97-year-old mother, when I take her to the doctor's office, or anywhere in public where she gets attention from new people, she flirts the same way.

In sum, I tend to think of flirting as a non-threatening method of securing a tacit promise of non-aggression from a more dominant individual. "I'm harmless and cute, see? Don't eat me."

Oh, Plei, the mattresses are good? That's an enormous relief to me, as what the boy is going to IKEA for is a new mattress.

The high-end foam ones seem to be. I asked some friends of the family, who've had their mattress for five years, and they're pretty happy with it. That tipped me over into IKEA for when we upsized.

After the disaster that was our last (Serta and not cheap) mattress, I swore off anything with springs.

Why do we make stuff that is crappy now? Why can't we make stuff that is good? It sucks to make stuff that is crappy.

Rising cost of materials.

Good, good. We figured that even if it didn't last that long, the IKEA was so much cheaper than Serta etc. that it would be OK.

I increasingly realize how much I lucked out with my mattress and boxspring. I bought them used, but in pristine condition (lucky thing #1 -- what was I thinking??). Only $100 and they're still great, seven or eight years later.

Why do materials cost more? Why do things cost more? Aren't we theoretically getting more efficient at making things, what with all the industrial age automation and cheap out of country labor and such?

eta: Oh, me too, about the mattress, which was another thrift store find. $1800 mattress for $50, and it really was in great shape. There's somebody wealthy who donates to this thrift store, evidently, because they periodically have great finds like this.

There are a few small furniture places near me that make really good, solid, classic stuff. Unfortunately, they charge really good, solid, classic prices too. I wouldn't call any of it overpriced, just out of my range at the moment.

We figured that even if it didn't last that long, the IKEA was so much cheaper than Serta etc. that it would be OK.

Yeah, that was my logic. The Serta, which cost more than double the IKEA mattress price, fell apart in about four years. If I get four or five years out of this one, I'll feel it's paid for itself.

The best furniture we have would be considered "antiques", but it's really just hand-me-downs, solid woods and sturdy frames.

Same here. We got my grandmother's bedroom set last year, circa 1935ish, and while it needs a little surface work (scratches, etc.) it's solid mahogany. I couldn't afford new stuff like it even if I sold a kidney or two.

We had a Sauer computer desk (I think it was Sauer) that we bought specifically because it was supposed to hold the oversized monitor, and within months the whole thing had buckled under the weight, so that the cabinet doors and drawers wouldn't shut properly. Total crap.

Also, a preference for price over long-term investment. The prevailing myth seems to be that you'll renovate your whole house every 5 yeras anyway, and buy all new stuff! (I don't know anybody who actually does this, FTR.)

My chair is the Poang one. Good to hear a testimonial.

In other news:

A well-known novelist whose name is often accompanied by the word controversial, [vladimir] Sorokin was the subject of official government censure and organized right-wing protest a few years ago after the publication of a book that translates either as "Gay Lard" or "Blue Lard," and that depicts Stalin and Khrushchev getting it on. Mr. Sorokin is often called avant-garde, but he also sounds like a hoot.

Plei! The politician man-love is gaining a following!! Stalin is no Henry Kissinger, but, it's a start.

(That's Manohla Dargis, in the Times, BTW.)

Rising cost of materials.

And from a retailer POV, it's much better for them to sell me a crappy bookcase every year than to sell me a really good bookcase once.