1. Hover by the grill. You don’t want to miss your shot at the hot dogs. The cold, burnt hot dogs.

2. Drive slow, homie. Show off your whip as you inch through beach traffic and never actually make it to the beach. Keep the top down so you can smell those summer fumes.

3. Be a giver. Momma said never show up to the party empty handed. It’s cole slaw season, everybody. Be sure to make enough for 20.

4. The pool is open. Sure the water’s still a little brisk. Take it upon yourself to warm things up a bit.

5. Crab dip cop. You know the rules. One dip per chip. If you don’t enforce it, no one will.

Or shop a sale. Take an extra 20% off sale items with code ‘Extra20′ at checkout in store and online. All items final sale.

Shop men’s sale

Shop women’s sale

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Though generally accepted as a vegetable, in 1947 a New York court decided that because it was used in the United States as a fruit, it was to be officially counted as a fruit. This ruling generally meant lower import tariffs and more confusion over what it actually is. The plant originated in Western China, and somehow Ben Franklin is credited with bringing rhubarb seeds to America.

Rhubarb can grow in warm areas or greenhouses year-round so it is almost always easily obtained, and in temperate climates is one of the first food plants to be ready to harvest. Outdoor-cultivated rhubarb is usually available mid to late spring, and its season lasts through September. Hothouse rhubarb, which is grown in heated greenhouses, is available much of the year, and is brighter red, more tender, and sweeter-tasting than outdoor rhubarb. Freshly cut, these firm stalks are ready to be consumed as soon as they are harvested.

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Though rhubarb is most commonly stewed with sugar for use in pies and other desserts, it can also be pickled, used in savory dishes, and dehydrated and infused with fruit juice. It is exactly the right time of year for strawberry-rhubarb pie, which is perfectly both tart and sweet, and a spring specialty across the country. Head over to the Huffington Post for a strawberry rhubarb pie recipe from the one-and-only Magnolia Bakery. Or, try a classic recipe from Food Network.

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Their collection of incredible writing, reports and recommendations is surveyed from locations, products and ideas that are inspiring better lives across the globe.

The 400-page book features original photography and illustrations printed on a selection of the highest quality papers with the goal of making the world a little more liveable and loveable.

The Monocle Guide to Better Living is the ultimate reference for inspirational ways to improve your life.

Published by Gestalten.

The book is available now for pre-order, shipping September 2013.

Blue Point Oysters are originally from Blue Point, New York in Long Island’s Great South Bay. Blue Points are known for quality, and grow in shallow, brackish waters, with smooth, satiny meats, high brininess and mild flavor. Genuine Blue Point Oysters have a fresh, crisp, firm texture with a sweet aftertaste and loads of salinity.

Blue Point is a short sleeve linen button-down shirt from New England Shirt Co, made exclusively for Need Supply Co. as part of The Cookout Collection. Features contrasting gingham chest pocket and yoke, button-down collar points, and rounded hem.

Olde Salt Oysters are native to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, specifically salty Chincoteague. This strain of oyster tastes most like the ocean, with a bold brininess and smooth, clean follow through. Olde Salts are a true Virginia classic.

Olde Salt is an exclusive light weight chambray button-down shirt from The Cookout Collection, featuring contrasting star print fabric at front chest pocket and yoke, button-down collar points, and rounded hem.

Sting Ray Oysters, from the pristine waters of Mobjack Bay, are the quintessential Chesapeake Bay oyster. Named for the area’s chief predator, they are sweet and only mildly briny with a clean, crisp finish.

From Need Supply Co. and New England Shirt Co.’s The Cookout Collection, Sting Ray is a short sleeve chambray button-down shirt with contrast paisley chest pocket and yoke, button-down collar points, and rounded hem.

Shop The Cookout Collection, made exclusively for Need Supply Co. by New England Shirt Co. here.

Learn more about oysters from our friends at Rappahannock Oyster Co. and from the Need Supply Co. Guide to Oysters.

Illustrations by Will Godwin

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Necessity dictated that it was essential to find a material that was readily available and inexpensive, pliable enough to shape and light enough to carry. Clay fit the bill and was an abundant resource in the region. Early pots were built by stacking rings of clay inside baskets as a means of preventing leakage as water was carried to crops. It is hypothesized that once these clay-lined baskets was used for their intended purpose, they were set aside and eventually dried out. The loss of moisture caused the shape to shrink and separate from the sides of the basket. When the clay, now shaped like a pot, was removed, and dried in the sun on hot sand, it retained the basket pattern and, eventually, early men and women discovered that they could harden the molded pottery in hot ashes and make sturdy containers to transport and store. These pots were undecorated and expendable — they were created simply as a means to transport liquids, and sometimes were only used once they were being disposed of. From these would come pots formed by hand and decorated with crude tools.

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The Egyptians made kilns to place their clay pots in for firing. The kiln was lined with a kind of insulation brick that was made from a mixture of straw and clay which had been dried in the sun. Later, the ancient Egyptians used a finer clay with a high quartz content for their delicate pottery. They rubbed the pieces with a smooth stone to give the a dull sheen or coated them with a fine layer of another color of clay. Further experimentation lead the Egyptians to coat their clay objects with a bluish-green substance to make them non-porous. This was a glaze composed of quartz, soda, and a mineral containing copper which when fired covered the clay bowls and vases with a glass-like surface.

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The Greeks were credited with making pottery an art form, although at the time, potters were still known as craftsmen. Their pots and vases were utilitarian in nature and were mainly created for drinking and pouring, or storing wine and olive oil. But these craftsmen decorated their vessels with characters from Greek mythology and were the first to experiment with adding color by combining the clay with other naturally occurring ingredients, such as ochre and potash. Ancient Greek vases are highly valued for form and decoration. The graceful lines and perfect balance speak to our desire for beauty. The pottery was decorated with pictures of the daily lives of the people and stories of their gods, goddesses, and heroes.

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So the evolution of pottery from necessity to art form is well under way by this point, but another important development in the history of pottery that we’ve forgotten up to this point is the invention of the potter’s wheel. Though it’s not known exactly when the potter’s wheel came about, it seems that by the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 3000 B.C., potters were using the slow wheel. This was simply a moveable platform that allowed them to turn the pot as they worked, instead of having to get up and walk around it. By the time the next century rolled around, most potters in Europe and Asia were using the fast wheel, which used a platform similar to the slow wheel, except the platform spun on an axle much like a toy top. The potters would start with a lump of clay sitting on the wheel, then gave the wheel a good spin or kick, which enabled them to draw the pot out of the clay through the spinning motion. The fast wheel was a big technological breakthrough, because it made it possible to work quickly and reproduce the same design. The invention of electricity brought us the motorized potter’s wheel that we know today.

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The next big breakthrough in pottery came about in 600 A.D. during the Han Dynasty in China, when potters began to make porcelain. These delicate and artful pieces, now known as fine china, were created from white kaolin clay combined with ground granite, which was fired at extremely high temperatures. It was very expensive to transport, so potters in West Asia invented lead glazes to mimic the look of porcelain. These glazes were important because not only did they add a decorative element to pottery making, they also made the porous earthenware waterproof. European potters soon followed suit, creating colorful glazes to use in their pottery. Throughout the centuries, pottery has continued to evolve as both a craft and an art.

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In medieval times, sand was mixed with clay to make cooking pots strong enough to be placed over an open fire. Today, for the same reason, casseroles used for baking are made from clay mixed with grog which is a ground-up fired pottery. The openness of grog clay allows water to evaporate more evenly as it dries and prevents cracking and warping during the firing. Around the middle of the thirteenth century, German potters started to produce stoneware. This pottery was made from finer clays and fired at a higher temperature than earthenware. Stoneware was tan or gray in color, strong and naturally non-porous.

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Late in the sixteenth century, a trade route through Manila allowed goods and wares to be exchanged from countries that had otherwise been isolated from one another. Included in these wares were ceramic goods and as different potting cultures began to learn from each other, slowly a the collective knowledge began to emerge. The art of pottery eventually evolved into what we know, love, and use on a daily basis today and we suppose that is what we love so much about it. Pottery is an ancient and beautiful art that can be used for both practical purposes or solely for visual enjoyment. For thousand and thousands of years it has been a perfect example of artistry being incorporated into everyday life.

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After first working with mountain climbing rope, Genger says she became interested in “the heft of the material and the massiveness that it gave to the piece” (NY Times).

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For her site-specific installation at Madison Square Park, Orly Genger transformed three lawns with mounds of primary-colored rope, dissecting the park into contained spaces both hidden and visible. Simply titled Red, Yellow and Blue, the installation used 50 tons – that’s right, TONS – of industrial grade rope, which the artist procured from the Gulf of Main Lobster Foundation, recycling the worn-out ground line used by fishermen up and down the New England coast. That adds up to 1.4 million – yes, MILLION – feet of the stuff, enough to span the length of Manhattan nearly 20 times over. Equally as impressive, the rope is colored with 3,000 gallons of paint and weighs more than 100,000 pounds.

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Genger says of the piece, “The tradition of knitting carries the sharing of stories and the installation draws on that idea. The repurposed rope brings with it the stories of different locations and by knotting it, a space is created for the words and thoughts of viewers in New York City to complete the work, creating a silent dialogue that waves along.” The New York Times aptly calls Genger “The Rope Wrangler”, her public park sculpture being her largest and most labor-intensive to date, as well as the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s largest commission yet. The artist spent two years cleaning the rope of lobster claws and fish bones, and hand-crocheting and knotting it, handling practically every inch of it herself.

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Despite its size, Red, Yellow and Blue will also be the Park Conservancy’s first commission to tour. The work will travel to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum outside of Boston in October 2013.

Working in a much, much smaller scale, Orly Genger also collaborates with jewelry designer Jaclyn Mayer, paring down her sculptural rope work to translate into wearable pieces. Genger’s Red, Yellow and Blue is on view in Madison Square Park, a small oasis in the middle of one of the busiest sections of New York City, until September 8, 2013.

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Orly Genger is represented by Larissa Goldston Gallery, New York.

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