Becky’s “Must” List

Here are things you must read, buy, eat, or watch:

- READ David Sedaris’ books of essays: Start off with “Me Talk Pretty One Day” to get warmed up to his acerbic wit, then move onto “Holidays on Ice,” then read his latest “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” then move on to his earlier works of “Naked” and “Barrel Fever.”

- BUY a whole house fan: Spend about $1K and have a cool house where you will rarely need to use the air conditioning & keep fresh air circulating.

- EAT at some of Sacto’s best hole in the wall ethnic dives: Rice Noodles (Vietnamese on Arden between Fulton & Morse), Safari (Kenyan on Fulton between Hurley & Sierra), Caballo Blanco (Mexican with the best flour tortilla chips ever, on Stockton at Franklin), Eljin’s Toucha Class Soul Food & BBQ (on Stockton between Broadway & Fruitridge)

- WATCH VH1’s “Best Week Ever,” HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” “Elimidate” (in syndication), and Comedy Central’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “Reno 911”

- BUY some sort of digital recording system. I have the Dish Network DVR, and it’s similar to Tivo. If you’re already a Dish subscriber, it’s only $5 more per month, and your life will never be the same.

- READ any of the work by SI “last page” writer, Rick Reilly. I’d start off with “Life of Reilly” then move onto “Who’s your caddy” and finish up with his fictional piece, “Missing Links.”

- BUY anything from Lucy, the ultimate provider in casual/workout gear for women. It’s the perfect place to pick up the type of outfit you’d wear to a casual dinner/brunch date and make it seem like you’re THAT fabulous without even trying. The local store is at Pavilions, between Piatti and Sharper Image.

- EAT Nutella…lots of it. It’s great on toasted Great Harvest honey wheat bread or on graham crackers. We did a blind taste test comparing Nutella with the Milky Way equivalent on Memorial Day of 2000. Not only does the Nutella taste better and have a better consistency, it is also about $2 less per jar. And yes, Kobe did lose his Nutella endorsement deal after his Colorado scandal broke loose.

- WATCH some old Hitchcock classics to see how movies used to be made! I guarantee you’ll just about as creeped out by “Vertigo” as you are with the likes of “The Others” or “The Ring.”