Ordering a Catalog with Multiple Categories

So a lot of people have been requesting the ability to change the order of catalog items while viewing a single category. My first thoughts were right along with most everyone else, this would be a great feature. Now I have had some time to think over the problem and I realized implementing that feature would not work as expected. It is impossible with just one order value per catalog item to order multiple categories independently of each other. Once a catalog item is put into two categories, it will not let you set a position for both categories.

Problem: Give a catalog item with two separate categories a different position in the catalog order for both categories. Currently this is impossible because each catalog item gets only one order value.

Solution: I propose that much like posts, catalog items should not rely on an order value but use different fields such as date and title for the master catalog's ordering. Then, when someone needs to create a specific collection of catalog items for a page, they would create a new sub-catalog (a gallery), that would let one drag and drop the order of any number of items they choose from their master catalog. This would be similar to Albums in NextGen Gallery, but you would not be required to create a gallery of catalog items. This also lets one use categories for a more appropriate purpose, categorizing your catalog, not separating out pages.