9:00 a.m. I woke up. I slept in this morning. I don’t have a lot to do today. I do a video discussing morning thoughts about living in a tent in the woods, and of the experiences of this social experiment, or what I call an eye-opening experience. People always ask me, “is it a social experiment?” I really don’t like to call things experiments. Life is an experiment, we learn by trial and error, and we also learn from others or nature. I personally like to learn from others or nature instead of making mistakes to learn myself.
11:00 a.m. I’ve gotten myself ready to head out to get my lunch at Lifebridge. I take a call with my friend’s brother Brett, who’s an artist and who makes documentary movies. He’s big into the American economy and labor. Brett and I talk on the phone for a while, and it’s an interesting conversation. The takeaway was he suggested that I start to have people fill out consent forms, which I will do from now on.
12:00 p.m. I arrived at Lifebridge for lunch. I drove my car and parked it at the library and walked over. I sit down, take my jacket off, and I get some of the food that they have in the refrigerator to eat. Soon the hot food comes out and I eat that as well. As soon as I’m done eating I just get up and leave.
12:45 p.m. I walk back to my car and I spend the next few hours getting caught up on writing blogs and things that I have to do to continue documenting this project. I’ve made plans to visit my ex, who from now on I feel it’s safe to say is my girlfriend again, and cook dinner for her and her son.
4:30 p.m. I walk back over to Lifebridge homeless day center. Before I go in the center I take some photos of Salem’s Town Center. I eat some of the food that they have out in the refrigerator at the day shelter. When dinner comes out I eat that as well.
5:30 p.m. My girlfriend lets me know that she’s going to be at home soon. I drive my little car to the grocery store and I pick up a few cooking items, some raviolis, and some battered shrimp. I grab a few vegetables. I grab some cookies for her son, and some ice cream. My girlfriend loves sweets, as does her son. When I get to her house I cook dinner for her and her son and we spend a nice relaxing night together.
HINDSIGHT: 10/13/2025
I was completely sucked into my ex girlfriend’s gravitational pull by this point. She was in dyer straights financially by this point, having an apartment she couldn’t afford, car bills she couldn’t pay for and she was mired in debt. When her and I broke up before the start of my homeless project she quickly went back to her previous boyfriend. That didn’t last long, obviously. My ex, who was once again becoming my girlfriend has always relied on men to provide financial security in her life. I felt I should help her learn to manage her resources and finances. It was always in my mind that I should help her, I can save her. After all she was a good partner when she wasn’t yelling at me belligerently and sending me scathing text messages longer than the writing of this whole project. Sometimes love comes with a price.