Is Being Old A Secret Weapon?

With age comes wisdom … and years of hard work.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: You can't change the facts, but much like the glass half full vs. glass half empty analogy, how one looks at getting older – or at failing – can make all the difference, as Red soon discovered from Black's unexpected reaction to, of all things, a golf tournament.

It all began when Black asked Red if she had watched the PGA Championship, the second of the four "major" men's golf tournaments. Red admitted that she hadn't yet had seen the headlines about Phil Mickelson having won it, which was amazing given that while he's had an incredible career, the last years have been less than stellar. But when she commented that sports, like so many things, favor the young, she definitely wasn't expecting Black's response,

"Old People" – however you want to define old – are on a roll. In 2019, Tom Brady, at the age of 41, became the NFL's oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. In 2020, President Biden, at the age of 77, became the oldest person ever elected president. Now, Phil Mickelson, at the age of 50, becomes the oldest golfer to ever win a major championship.

That caught Red totally off guard, as Black often laments about having to speed walk instead of running to "save" her knees, and even though Red's the younger (by five years) sister and still feels young at heart, she's also noticed that it's not as easy to do things as when she was younger – whether physically, like working out, or work, in terms of stamina or concentration.

However, it reminded Red of one of her favorite movies, Space Cowboys, and how age might be a physical hindrance but unquestionably provides a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, both personal and professional, that can only be gained over time. Or via a mother's unwavering desire to give her children advice. In this case, it was Phil Mickelson's mom, who sent a text message to her son via Phil's sister,

Text Philip and tell him just to par in. Don't hit bombs or activate calves. Just par. They will have to catch him. He won't listen to his mother so you text him. Hurry.

Phil played his game. The one that got him there. And the rest is history. But what Black found most inspirational about this win actually happened about a week before the PGA Championship began, when Phil tweeted,

I've failed many times in my life and career and because of this I've learned a lot. Instead of feeling defeated countless times, I've used it as fuel to drive me to work harder. So today, join me in accepting our failures. Let's use them to motivate us to work even harder.

words of wisdom

Words & Banter

Red & Black … Do Red, White & Blue

How we celebrate July 4th may change from year to year, but what should never change is remembering WHY we celebrate. And 250 years feels like the perfect time to reflect not just on traditions, but on the sacrifices made to build — and preserve — the freedoms we often take for granted.

Red's Head Red assets.rebelmouse.io

July 4this so different these days with neither girl at home. Natasha always hated the fireworks, while Sawyer would insist we do all the traditional things – barbecuing, eating lots of watermelon, and then watching fireworks in the Texas heat and humidity. But this year, I plan to make it a very “cool” holiday … staying in the air-conditioned house, enjoying “Gone With The Wind” (this summer’s long read), and celebrating my own independence from any “mom” responsibilities with a big bucket of freshly popped popcorn!

Black's Head Black assets.rebelmouse.io

Well, everyone celebrates differently. I celebrate by being able to work uninterrupted. But, I do think about what it took for our Founding Fathers to draft the Declaration of Independence, especially as they did not always agree. The right to disagree, yet respect our differences and find common ground, remains one of our country’s greatest challenges today. Some things never change.

We want to wish everyone a safe and festive Fourth of July, but we also hope that we all take a moment to celebrate — and honor — the United States of America, and remember the best in us, as a people, and as a country.

holidays

Animation

We’ve Always Been Animated

OK, we have to give credit where credit is due … When Black first envisioned “Red & Black” (before she even let Red know that she was turning her crisis into a book — a brand — a business), she thought it could be a sitcom. Because all successful sitcoms are relationship-based. However, years later, at a meeting with Hasbro, they said they thought our sitcom concept would work better as animation. So, thank you, Hasbro!

ANIMATION … MADE THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY: FRAME-BY-FRAME

We worked with an industry-renowned animation firm based in Austin, and from the start — beginning with character development — we felt like they “got us” and captured our personalities in our animated “creatures.” But we never realized the incredible amount of work that goes into creating animation (including storyboards and animatics)! And the long lead time between concept/script and final product.

Plus, we decided that the voices of the “animated” Red and Black needed to be done by us. We wish we had videoed the sessions in the sound booth as Red’s theater degree kicked in and she got almost everything in the first take. And Black? Well, she sounded more like a robot than a robot. (Talk about someone who can’t be scripted!)

AND USED IN A WAY THAT WORKS TODAY

We started with the key stories that people seem to love (or at least seem entertained by) at speaking engagements. But even before they were done, we were presented with an opportunity we never expected. The Greater Houston Partnership’s UpSkill Houston initiative asked us to create a Red & Black Soft Skills Animation Series.

It wasn’t long before Red's daughter, Sawyer, told us we needed to do some very short animated "teasers" … so Black said, "Great. Go for it. And, keep track of your hours.” She took the final versions of our animation and started creating teasers for our website.

In late 2025, we hired a social media “guru”, and she started creating content using the animation for our Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. Which, we’re thrilled to announce, have far exceeded our expectations.

WHAT ABOUT AI? DO YOU PLAN TO USE IT TO GENERATE ANIMATIONS?

This question seems to be on many people’s minds.

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: We’re committed to supporting the real-world creative community. Does that mean we’ll never use AI to generate animations? (For an amusing story on how wrong AI got our “creatures”, see this LinkedIn post that got over 15,000 views.) Well, at the point in time we can provide AI with “scripts”, and it can generate new animation that’s consistent with our current animation, then yes. Or, at least, yes, we might seriously consider it.

WANT MORE ANIMATION?

Click ANIMATION for an assortment of “teasers” from our longer stories, while more, including ones from our social media posts, will be loaded on a regular basis. And, of course, they’ll be scattered throughout this site based on subject matter.

Plus, we’ll probably “sneak preview” the full animated stories on our weekly newsletter, so …

Register for our newsletter on the “sticky bar” at the bottom of the page.

P.S. – For those of you who've met us or seen us at speaking engagements, we'd love to know if you think the animators have accurately captured us! (You can email us at Banter@RedandBlack.email.)

Red & Black

DON’T MISS A THING

For Red & Black Banter in your inbox ...