The Third - No. 036
EIP3, resolutions, and the little camera that could.
Happy New Year, Thirdies! (That’s the name you’ve been given. Hope you like!)
202THREE. I, for one, am very much looking forward to this new year. 2022 high key sucked for me. (Not entirely. You get it.) But that year is done! Bye bye. It’s time for 12 new months and a potentially unhealthy amount shitload of resolutions and goals. I’m such a sucker for the “new year, new you” hype. Does it really matter when you decide to set goals and check in on your life? No. But I’m a Capricorn, so let me have this delusional restart button during MY season.
Right before 2022 ended, I binged the greatest show on TV/streaming. Yes, I am referring to Emily In Paris, or as I call it: EIP3. Today’s got some EIP3 thoughts (and photoshops), my resolution strategy for this year (love to tweak a system), and some film highlights from the end of my madrileño era.
xoxo, Eddie Spaghetti
Okay, so if you haven’t seen EIP3, or like any season, then maybe skippy skippy to the next section because spoilers! Or if you truly don’t care, then enjoy the photos.
Where do we begin? Do we go character by character? Sure.
Little Miss Emily. I spent the first half of the season just wondering how Emily is even allowed to work in Paris, until the visa application episode. Finally, a smidge of realité. Obviously, the whole Gabriel vs. Alfie matchup echoes back to the Big vs. Aidan matchup from Sex and the City. But we can all agree that Alfie should be the winner…right? If you’re Team Gabriel (hate that I just typed that), please let me know because I just do not see it??
Little Miss Mindy. She really said YEET to Benoit in like an instant. And for that, she continues to be an icon. I get that we need Mindy to be singing throughout the season to move her story along, but like we did not need as many songs as we got. It’s like the Glee-ification of EIP. Although, I screamed when she did the Dua Lipa song in a Dua Lipa outfit and then sang Shallow EN FRANÇAIS. Fever dream!! And then the Eurovision reveal?? That writers’ room is vibrating at a HIGH frequency. An insane, but HIGH frequency. Also, the club remix of Mon Soleil - I’m sorry but it’s good. I won’t be entertaining any other thoughts on the matter.
Little Miss Camille. Boring. The queer reveal felt so random and forced. Love a queer storyline but like this should have been done better?
Little Miss Gabriel. Are you picking up on how everyone is Little Miss yet? Gabriel’s quarter/midlife crisis just unraveling and unraveling was fun at first but then unhinged at the end. Snap out of it, Chef Boyardee.
Little Miss Sylvie. Ditching her young photographer fling and getting more involved with her long distance husband? Stan. The photographer was just too whiny. Getting her old office back by sabotaging Madeline with the help of the building manager? Stan. Capricorn vibes. Sylvie is a Capricorn, right? God, I hope so.
Little Miss Benoit. The reason Eurovision entered the chat. My hero. The tortured artist act is so tired though.
Little Miss Alfie. Deserved better from the first episode of this season to the very last. I think it’s the way he says “Cooper.” I’m Alfie-pilled. Sue me.
Little Miss Nicolas. EVIL. When he gets back at Emily for embarassing him in front of his family, I didn’t have a choice but to stan. He also gives me Capricorn vibes. But he doesn’t love talking about work all the time…so maybe I’m wrong.
Little Miss Julien. His frustration with Emily overshadowing everyone else’s work at Savoir was absolutely justified. He also remains one of the funniest characters.
Little Miss Luc. FreaQUE. We love Luc.
Little Miss Antoine. Why is this man such a baby?
Little Miss Madeline. She really just had that baby, did some work, got up, and left Paris. Just like that.
Little Miss Pierre Cadault. I’m sorry but him getting hit by a small car on the way to lunch was so fucking funny. It shouldn’t have been, but it was.
I can’t remember if I’ve at length discussed my obsession with resolutions, goals, etc. But I’m sure you can imagine. I used to keep a biiig poster on my wall with sections of goals. That used to happen every September (New Year for teachers). The poster got kind of ugly, so I switched to note cards pinned to twine. Very Pinterest! Now, I just keep them in my planner. Still in sections, colour coded, with a bullet-journal-style to-do list key. That seems like progress, right?
This year, I’ve decided to keep the end product more or less the same. But my brainstorming method has changed. Here’s how I’m doing my resolutions this year.
Ooo a numbered list. How organised. Anyway, I grabbed my notebook.
I wrote down a bunch of categories in a list. General things like: health, social life, career, education, etc. But also more specific things like: The Third, podcast, film photography, clothing, etc. Any category I could think of (and also googled a bit) I wrote down.
I made sections for the categories and colour coded them. Hot tip: make them quite large in case you end up writing a lot under them. Better to have more room than not enough. And make sure you write a section for “random thoughts.”
Now comes the brainstorming. Start thinking of what you want to get done this year. While you’re thinking of what you want to write and where it should go, you’ll probably have some “random thoughts” pop into your head for other things you’d like to get done. Take a wild guess where those go.
Here’s where I’m at in the process. I’m gonna give myself until half way through the month to keep these pages open and write whatever comes to my mind. Big to small, vague to specific things. For example, I have “volleyball” written down. Pretty vague. On the other hand, I have “complete Duolingo Catalan course.”
Once I'm satisfied with my categories and lists, I’ll format them into my planner so I can refer to them throughout the year. Where I can transfer them into my month/week to-do lists and write some actionable steps under them.
Seems insane, but it works for me.
I got the first rolls of film used with my Canon Sure Shot Supreme developed. My parents bought me this point and shoot over the summer while antiquing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an antique like you’re probably imagining. But I’ve been nervous about using it. You just never know how things are going to turn out with a camera bought at flea markets, antique shops, yard sales. Light leaks, broken shutters, faulty film advances. You just never know. Well, until you develop the film. And let me tell you, dear Thirdies, (nickname is back!) this camera delivered.
It’s not a perfect camera. It doesn’t always get the autofocus right. But I couldn’t be happier with the results. It works great at night. It’s compact. When others use it, they just have to press a button. No explanations needed. I will say the flash is…intense. Maybe that’s because we’re not used to flashes on cameras anymore? That seems like a wild conjecture. Anyway, long live my Sure Shot Supreme!
This goddamn book!!
This entry, this entry, this entry, this entry, this entry, and this entry from Benidorm Fest 2023.
This song.
This cover of a Bon Jovi song.
Team Alfie. I’m actually kind of upset that they didn’t go with him. And also Camille is so tired.