Latest trend: Cuddle parties

Cuddle Party is the latest new age quasi therapy. For $30 a head, self-proclaimed romance coach Reid Milhalko hosts gatherings where paying customer can kiss, nuzzle or spoon the stranger sitting next to them. Just be sure to follow the rules: no sex (rule #2) and no dry humping (rule #7). The founder intend to provide "a save space for women and men to further empower their sense of self-expression, sexuality, relationship, and play" according to the Cuddle Party mission statement. Mihalko has already hosted 15 gatherings in New York and intends to expand them nationwide. A Cuddle Party book and DVD is in the works. "We are really hitting that humanity chord"' says Mihalko, "as much as people make fun of us, they also realize that there is a need to have human contact and that people are very touch-deprived."