Apologies if AtAT feels a little out of whack today, but we feel strangely... unsettled right now. We're not sure what could be causing it, but it's sort of a general edginess, a keyed-up feeling like we should be preparing for some unnamed momentous occasion or something-- as if a life-changing moment were bearing inexorably down upon our lives, and we should be preparing to give ourselves over to the sheer enormity of whatever's hurtling toward our destinies. There's an anticipation of shock, joy, and utter absorption, but as far as we know, nothing's happening this week that should be triggering this sort of mental and physiological response. Laundry day? Dental cleaning? Semiannual tire rotation?!

Oh, wait... Macworld Creative Pro starts today, doesn't it? Right, right... we get it now: this is all just phantom anticipatory giddiness because our bodies are used to being bathed in an extra-strength Reality Distortion Field at a Stevenote right about this time of year. But of course, what with Apple having decided that it's allergic to the East Coast, the summer Macworld Expo Stevenote won't be happening this year or, most likely, ever again. Yeesh, what are we supposed to do with all this extra nervous energy? Maybe we'll knit an afghan or something.

Still, the renamed show is happening this week, Stevenote or not (meaning, not), and there's still a little to look forward to if you're there. First of all, this marks the "first public display" of the Power Mac G5, which means you can meander over to booth 618 and soak up a nice, healthy dose of perforated aluminumy goodness a solid month before the display models make their way into the Apple retail stores. And secondly, His Steveness may not be addressing his loyal subjects this week, but Sir Joswiak of the Order of Veeps will be flapping his gums at the "Feature Presentation" on Wednesday. Give him a shot and you just may be witnessing a star in the making.

That said, if you ask us, the summer show just isn't Macworld Expo anymore. In fact, you don't have to ask us; you can ask WIRED instead, who has an article on the apparent demise of what used to provide the Mac fan's entire supply of adrenaline during the hot season. And last month the Boston Herald reported that IDG Expos would consider this week's "retargeted" show to be a "big success" if it drew 29,000 attendees-- meaning, half of what last year's summer Expo pulled in. Holy shrinkage, Batman!

Still, we're doing our part to keep the illusion alive. Some viewers will recall that there's a longstanding AtAT tradition whereby viewers attempt to spot Nico (AtAT's semi-intern and perpetual matrimonial sacrifice) in the Expo crowd and propose marriage to her; the origins of this odd ritual stem from an ancient practice known as Viewer Mail and have long since been lost in the mists of time, but it's tradition nonetheless. If you're attending, keep one eye peeled for the blushing potential bride-to-be, and if you propose real nice, you may just pick up a wife to carry your plastic bag full of cheap promotional material. Of course, it's far more likely that she'll shoot you down and laugh mercilessly, but hey, at least it might score you some free AtAT merchandise or something from the Baffling Vault of Antiquity™. (There are copies of Duke Nukem 3D in there! Ooooooo!)