I’m a little teapot short and stout or maybe I am an artillery shell with a stake through its fuse or some California-mod aqua and silver interpretation of a Viking helmet or maybe it is a light fixture, you tell me. It’s expensive, hard to handle and calls attention to itself in an unseemly way. Which is why it seems like a weird curio, not some highly prized domestic totem. The whole thing is difficult to wedge into a small sink; water goes in the large hole in an unsettling way (you expect it to come sloshing back out), and to pour the boiled water from the small hole, extreme wrist strength is required to angle it backward beyond the perpendicular. But the Starck kettle made by Alessi does provide entertainment, at least for the personnel at the stores that stock it. People look at it, walk around it, pick it up and turn it sideways and then upside down. It sells fairly well, considering that nine and a half out of ten customers can’t figure out what it is. Although a lot of them do say that for $250 it should whistle.

We interviewed another realtor today. She seemed as acceptable as the first one. Now all we have to do is pick one. That may require some cat herding talents. We also spoke with a guy that runs an action house here in Monterey. He specializes in historic Californian furniture, so he could not help us with any of our midcentury modern stuff, but he did give me contact info for two other auction houses in the bay area and I will be reaching out to them. Some good news awoke me this morning. Bob texted us and we will be meeting him for dinner tomorrow night.