This is pretty much how I feel most of the time. It often seems like simple things are hard and hard things are simple, and even after years and lots of different projects, I still end up playing "guess-and-check" with complicated centering stuff.

Actually, they're working on both. Flexbox[1] and grid layout for better layout, CSS animation for animation and effects.

Flexbox is usable in the latest versions of most browsers today[2]. Here's an example of declarative centering: http://jsfiddle.net/ac4ug/

[1]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/CSS/Flexi... [2]: http://caniuse.com/#feat=flexbox

Hahahah, very true.