Banter Bites

What Are Banter Bites?

You shouldn't be surprised that two sisters, especially sisters as different as we are, would banter about everything – sometimes agreeing, sometimes not. But, almost always looking at things from very different perspectives (just scroll through our most recent posts on the home page). Of course, our Banter Bites really highlight our differences and the fact …

Everything with us is a story. Several years ago, we worked with a branding company, and one of the team imagined us as cartoon characters. (Thank you, Puneet!) People told us they loved our sisterly banter, so we started doing a single-frame cartoon to introduce our monthly columns. Then we used them on slides at speaking engagements (Black's corporate background taught her how BORING PowerPoint presentations could be, so she refused to have slides filled with words), and people suggested we syndicate them. (Black, of course, then researched syndication.) And, we even used them at a pitch meeting with Hasbro. When we started working with an animation company and saw their version of our "creatures", we decided they needed to be front and center.

So, just about the time we began developing this website, Black suggested to Red we start a daily "Banter Bite" that we could publish on our Twitter and Facebook pages. It could be about something happening in our lives, current events, some obscure fact/study she happened across, the list goes on and on. And Red's reply? (Keep in mind, she's the self-proclaimed queen of blah-blah-blah.) "I'm not sure we'll have enough material to be able to post every day."

The reality? In the beginning, Black humored Red and we didn't do them every day. But Black kept churning them out based on their conversations – and soon there was a large backlog. At that point, we decided to publish them six days a week (we believe Sundays shouldn't be spent on gizmos, although that doesn't stop Black from working) and later added a "backstory" section to them. Now, based on all the other content we're posting, we're back to doing them 2-3 times a week.

People tell us that our Banter Bites cartoons are fun and quick to read. But also relevant to their day-to-day lives – and not just on the day they're published. In other words, although prior Banter Bites may be considered "old" in today's world of social media and "instant news" (even something from earlier in the day can be considered old or outdated), they don't have an expiration date!

No matter what holiday you may celebrate, Red can’t help but quote a line from one of her favorite Christmas songs, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on, your troubles will be out of sight.”

And Black can’t help but point out that the song wasn’t introduced in a Christmas movie but in the movie "Meet Me In St. Louis."

Wishing you a merry everything and a happy always!

This is one of Red’s favorite Banter Bites in large part because of Black’s “corny” puns, but also because fresh corn is a summer staple – whether cooked on the grill or in the microwave, whether eaten on its own or as a primary ingredient in refreshing summer salads


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