Welcome and thank you for coming to Existential Bistro!
Take your coat off…pull up a chair…make yourself comfortable…order a doppio, a cab, a cocktail, or all three.
The general idea for the site grew out of Think 50, a blog I began at age 50. They reflect my voice in 2010–2011. Some posts may have aged better than others.
Now, in 2026, Existential Bistro will be a gathering place for evocative and thoughtful discourse that rings true viscerally, even when we disagree. Topics will range from serious to the absurd, including culture, psychology, philosophy, mortality, sports, and the mundane.
If you don’t laugh at least once during your visit, then I’ve probably had an off night in the kitchen. The overriding aim, though, is to stir thoughts and feelings and engage in honest reflection and conversation about almost anything — along with taking the risk to consider the unconsidered, including questions that most often won’t have comfortable or obvious answers.
And don’t be too shy to introduce yourself to my confidant, dearest friend, and partner-in-crime, Philosopher Cat…Keep an eye out for PC’s question of the week and Ask PC anything.
For more about me—and how an unreformed philosophy major became a forensic psychologist before meandering back to audacious indulgence—you can read my About page.
Yes, we do have key lime pie…
“Man’s desire finds its meaning in the desire of the other, not so much because the other holds the key to the object desired, as because the first object of desire is to be recognized by the other.â€
— Jacques Lacan, Ecrits
Acknowledgements
The original Think 50 began as a Father’s Day gift in 2010 from my then wife, and mother of my children, Robyn. My current partner Joan brought Existential Bistro to life and will play a vital role in managing the site as it grows. The two lights of my life — son Nathan and daughter Adrian — will no doubt continue to inspire me as I strive to inspire them.
Thanks for reading Existential Bistro!
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