Writers are (almost) never 'not writing'.
Sure, they might not always be 'typing', to use the distinction the comic strip
"Shoe" used to make.
But we're (almost) always thinking about how we're going to phrase this or that, when/if we finally get around to actually typing it.
Usually when the deadline is looming (or well past).
So there I was, watching this morning's Formula One race, mentally composing a "Congratulations!" post to Toyota, for their first-ever Grand Prix victory.
After years and billions of dollars worth of trying, their all-Toyota front row in Bahrain surely boded well.
The usual first-corner shambles saw pole-sitter Jarno Trulli nudged aside by his teammate, Timo Glock.
But the big move was Lewis Hamilton, starting fifth on the outside of the track in row three, and diving up the inside to claim third (and coincidentally making a prophet of Red Bull's Mark Webber who said he knew Hamilton would be third at that point).
Little did anyone, perhaps except Brawn GP's eponymous team owner-manager Ross, understand at the time the significance of his driver Jenson Button immediately passing Hamilton after this manoeuvre.
Because that proved to be the pivotal point in Button's subsequent victory, contradicting an old adage that you can lose a race on the first lap, but seldom win one.
Glock led until the first round of pit stops, when Ross Brawn's strategic magic once again took over.
It's sort of like David Copperfield - you know he's going to make something (in this case, the opposition) disappear. But as often as he's done it, you still can't figure out how.
He's been doing this - out-thinking opposition team managers - for fifteen years; you'd think someone would have cottoned on to the secret by now.
Nope.
So there was Button, his racing suit almost completely devoid of sponsor patches, celebrating his third victory in four starts - in Brawn GP's four starts as a team.
While Toyota is still looking for their first after 126 Grands Prix.
The brilliant young Sebastian Vettel in a suddenly-competitive Red Bull followed last week's wet win with an ultra-dry second place.
It's also stunning how fast and how completely the old order hath changed.
Ferrari, the Constructors' Championship winner in eight of the last ten years, narrowly avoided the worst start in their F1 history by gaining their first points of the season in the fourth race, with ex-champion Kimi Raikkonen taking a lonely sixth (Felipe Massa was fourteenth).
And McLaren, despite using the 'factory' version of the same Mercedes-Benz engine that powers Brawn, was only moderately competitive, with reigning champion Hamilton finishing fourth and Heikki Kovalainen well up the track.
That barren-of-badges suit of Button's?
Don't expect it to be that way for long.
The signs are there for all to see - "This Space for Rent".
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