Cuddle Parties!

[FLAprogressive]

http://www.todaystmj4.com/features/specialassignment/40...

"WAUKESHA - It's a pajama party for adults! But is it a little creepy, or comforting? We visited a local Cuddle Party to see what it's all about.

Will Machay is a Cuddle Party facilitator across the Madison and Milwaukee area.

"I've always been a fan of touch since I was a little kid," he says.

On this day, he's hosting a Cuddle Party at The Compassion Center in Downtown Waukesha. 11 people showed up for the event--most of them total strangers.

The event starts with a 'Welcome Circle'. Will first goes through the 'Rules' of cuddling. He explains, "Introduce communication and boundary-setting skills needed to empower ourselves around touch and intimacy."

Will also leads the group through several icebreakers, including the 'Cow-Tip Exercise'. Participants first get on all fours in a circle and moo like cows. Then they tip onto each other. Will's explanation for the exercise is simple: "This is how we get a group of strangers to start cuddling!"

*snip*

Cuddle Parties cost about $20 to cover the cost of the facility and supplies. The event lasts about 3 1/2 hours. Will says he is the only certified facilitator in the state."

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"certified facilitator"????

[MrSlayer]

1. People are fucking crazy.

The only explanation for such nonsense.

[flvegan]

2. Furries!!

[FLAprogressive]

6. Ironically, my internet friend who pointed me towards this article is a furry.

[leeroysphitz]

3. What institution must one attend to gain certification as a cuddle facilitator?

[bluesbassman]

5. The one with padded classrooms I suspect.

[Kansas Wyatt]

4. But going to a bar and taking home a one night stand is wrong?

[sniffa]

7. We used to have those

but we called them, "rolling parties."

[suninvited]

8. hug

THIS !

[rcrush]

9. Do they provide extacy for these parties?

Thats the only reason I would go.

[soleiri]

10. I almost went to one in Los Angeles.

For research purposes only.
I had to do a paper for my liberal studies program. My focus was on internet, isolation and community. I thought briefly about doing it on cuddle parties. But then I thought about it and remembered that I don’t like being touched by people I don’t know.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

11. uhhhhh

what do the dudes do, when they ummmmm "rub" up against an attractive female while cuddling?

[Pierre.Suave]

12. ask for private cuddles I guess...

[PaddyBlueEyes]

13. rofl

[XemaSab]

14. From McSweeney's:

RULES FOR MY CUDDLE PARTY

1. Please do not give birth in the hot tub. The only reason I say as much is because at my last cuddle party, a woman gave "natural" birth to a set of twins in the hot tub.

2. I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my grandmother's hand-knitted pillows as an impromptu sex swing. I only bring this up because at my last cuddle party, a man by the name of "Mr. Pump" (nickname?) used my grandmother's knitted pillows as an impromptu sex swing.

3. I'm the "lifeguard." That means I'm in charge. Whatever I say, goes. When I drop this ostrich feather, that means it's officially time to begin. Also, if I tell you not to use my prescription psoriasis ointment as a sex lubricant, please don't. I only say this because at my last cuddle party, a group of teens from the local high school found their way into my medicine cabinet, climbed on top of my kitchen table, and then used my psoriasis ointment as a sex lubricant.

4. Please do not frighten any of the neighbors, especially the easily startled 89-year-old with the propensity for calling the authorities. I'm telling you this because at my last cuddle party, a group of recently released prisoners (none of whom I had previously met, and who had only learned about my cuddle party from a mysterious pamphlet stapled to a lamppost across from a methadone clinic) loudly popped their "freedom cherries" beneath the bedroom window of my neighbor, the easily startled 89-year-old with the propensity for calling the authorities.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2007/9/18sacks.html