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How about we redefine existentialism?
Existentialism is characterized by an emphasis on individualism, individual freedom, and subjectivity.
The existentialist believes that "existence precedes essence." What does this mean? That there is no pre-defined essence to humanity except that which we make for ourselves. Since Sartrean existentialism does not admit the existence of a god or of any other determining principle, human beings are free to do as they choose.
Since there is no predefined human nature or ultimate valuation beyond that which humans project onto the world, people may only be judged or defined by their actions and choices, and human choices are the ultimate valuation.
Simply put there is no inherent purpose to existence. You ask if it is possible to assign ethics or meaning to this way of life? The answer is yes. Of course, if it was not possible the _true_ existentialist would not last very long in light of the hopelessness nature of the philosophy.
A practical interpretation and method for living the existentialist life is to realize there is no meaning to be found in life. Meaning is what we perceive as the value an object holds. But where did this meaning originate? Somewhere, someone had to apply this value to said object. Hence someone had to create it, therefore meaning is tangible and subject to interpretation, if this is true, meaning does not exist.
Meaning is something to create, not something to be found. This is described as "Being in itself." And this is the beginnings of nihilism.
Hope I helped.
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