Words & Banter

Witching You Happy Halloween Memories

Photo courtesy of Red


Red assets.rebelmouse.io

Ghosts, goblins, and pumpkins are everywhere you look! Not the ads and not the neighborhood; I’m talking about my decorations. Plus, I indulge in all the Halloween-theme food (OK, really all the pumpkin spice things) because I love Halloween!

But I also love all the Halloween memories, which I’m reminded of every time I look out the window of my “workroom” and see our annual Halloween inflatable. And I’m not the only one who loves it because over the years, whenever it gets “old and tired” (I can relate), my daughters have insisted I replace it with an identical one. At over 6 feet tall, it towers over me, and the three ghosts popping out of a pumpkin are scary but in a friendly way. But the best part? On any given day, I can hear little kids in our neighborhood walking by with their mom or dad and stopping and “squealing” with delight. Which makes me smile because I know it’s becoming a future memory for them.

My other outdoor decoration doesn’t seem to get quite the same attention, although it always makes me smile. As in every single time I pull into my driveway. You’d think, after all these years, this witch would know how to drive, but clearly not. Or maybe she was just distracted by the ghosts.


Black assets.rebelmouse.io

I have always loved Red’s “bad driver” witch, partly because I love all things driving-related (OK, I will ignore the fact she crashed), but also because it originally was my decoration when I was married, and my stepdaughters were young.

People (of all ages) who celebrate Halloween may enjoy the decorations, candy (we all have our favorites), or even trick or treating, but my favorite part was always the candy-swapping negotiations. Originally, when Red and I were growing up, then my stepdaughters, and ultimately Red’s daughters. It is interesting how sibling rivalries and differences are put aside on Halloween and replaced with very business-like trade negotiations. Not to mention strategizing over return visits to houses that have the best candy.

And our Halloween wishes for you? (Guess who wrote “witch” one!)

  • No matter what you choose to do today or how you celebrate, we wish you a happy and safe Halloween and hope you have an opportunity to create wonderful memories for the years to come.
  • Trick or treat? Why not both? Happy Halloween!
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
Animation

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Ever feel like no one listens to you? Red probably feels that way more than she cares to admit.

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Animation

Soft Skills Animation Series

This series of animated videos was developed for The Greater Houston Partnership's UpSkill Houston initiative. They're updating their website, but due to popular demand for these videos, we're making them (and the associated copy) available on our site:

Soft skills are key to successful careers.

Certain technical skills may be required for specific careers or in particular industries. But there are other skills that are necessary regardless of industry, career or work setting. They’re becoming more important as technology evolves and changes the way people work. These skills are called soft skills and knowing how to recognize and demonstrate them is crucial.

UpSkill Houston and Red & Black have partnered to highlight many of the soft skills that are key to career success, all of which are transferable between industries, as well as in your personal life. Learn what these skills are, how you can develop them, and how to apply them in career settings.

  • WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS? Employability Skills. 21st Century Skills. Life Skills. Whatever you call them, skills such as problem solving, gratitude and communication are the skills employers continually look for in employees.
  • COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Communication affects almost everything and everyone. But do you know what communication really means?
  • CREATIVE THINKING: Think creativity only applies to areas like writing, music and art? See where creativity really fits within a business, organization or team.
  • CRITICAL THINKING: What exactly is critical thinking? Learn how developing critical thinking skills can help you progress in your career.
  • GRATITUDE & APPRECIATION: You might not think expressing gratitude and appreciation are skills that apply in business. But they are skills that can actually drive business success.
  • GROWTH MINDSET: The world — and the workplace — are rapidly changing. See what it means to have a growth mindset, and why employers value it.
  • PERSONAL FINANCE: See how learning to manage your personal money can affect your performance at work and, by extension, the performance of your workplace as a whole.
  • PROBLEM SOLVING: Problem solving means more than just addressing a challenge after it occurs. Learn what else it means and why employers value problem solvers.
  • RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SKILLS: It is more than surfing the internet. Finding accurate and credible information that you can analyze and summarize are highly valuable skills in many jobs and occupations.
  • RESUME WRITING: Companies hire people to satisfy a need or help solve a problem, and a resume is a place to highlight the relevant skills you have that meet that need or solve that problem. Learn what to focus on when writing your resume.
  • SAFETY MINDSET: Working safely is important regardless of your work environment. Learn why having a safety mindset benefits you, your employer and those around you.
  • SILO BUSTING: Many companies operate multiple departments, divisions or groups, which may not always collaborate or work together. Learn what it means to break a “silo” in a work setting and how doing it can improve the workflow around you.
  • TEAMWORK: Being able to work on a team is as important in a work setting as it is while playing sports. See what skills can help move a project forward and drive success.
Soft Skills