This is the painting that has recently fetched the highest price for any painting by a living painter. Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucien Freud sold for $33.6 million at Christie’s in New York.

Now, I don’t know much about art and I don’t have that kind of money, but I would NEVER pay money for this painting.

Before you feel obliged to point out the beam in my eye, let me assure you that I’m not offended by the model’s physique. Hell, I look like that myself! I believe that sexy is more about what’s going on from the neck up than the neck down.

But I will say that the artist has depicted this model in a rather unflattering way. And I am offended by the derogatory comments that I’ve read on blogs and newsites. Not about the painting, but about the woman. This insults me personally.

To me, this picture is just ugly. And it brings out ugly in people.

These guys knew how to paint real women!

But then again, what do I know?

Today I’m answering Emil’s question. What is my favorite book of all time?

Sounds reasonably simple. My favorite book is XYZ. The End.

But of course I’m going to make it more complicated and share a few of my favorite books and authors.

Books have always been a big part of my life. Both my parents are avid readers and my sister and I grew up with a love of books. If you want your kids to read (and who doesn’t?), you’ll have to set an example. Whenever I enter a strange house I always feel right at home if there are lots of books. When you love reading you are never bored and you will have great general knowledge.

I read for both knowledge and pleasure and my interests vary quite a bit. I have lots of books on natural health and fertility. I have self-help and motivational books. And of course I treasure my favorite stories.

So, what is my favorite (story) book of all time?

A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY - John Irving

This book has it all. It is extremely funny, very poignant, full of symbolism and covers a wide variety of issues about growing up. Owen Meany is the most memorable literary character that I have ever come across. It’s one of those books that you either love or hate. And I love it! I must have read it about 8 times by now and I feel I’ll probably read it again soon.

My second favorite book is also from John Irving. The Cider House Rules was made into a crappy movie starring Charlize Theron and Toby Maguire, but the book is simply wonderful. I’m not so enthusiastic about John Irving’s more recent work, but I’ll never part with these two books.

Tom Clancy is another favorite author, particularly his Jack Ryan novels. They are so well-written and researched and I find myself unable to put one down once I start reading. One day I hope to own them all and read them in sequence.

I love crime thrillers and find Michael Connelly to be a master of this genre.

My favorite spy thriller is Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. I first read it about 20 years ago and was disappointed that the movie was so different from the book. I recently gave Craig a copy for his birthday and promptly read it myself.

For sheer fun and entertainment (like on a beach vacation) nothing beats Jilly Cooper’s sex-and-high-jinx novels Riders, Polo and the rest of the series. She has a wicked sense of humor and I am always entertained.

I have always had a huge fascination with the Race to the Moon and have read many books about that era. My favorite is Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13.

This list would be incomplete without Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I first read it in French, but loved it in English too.

A lot of the books that I like have been turned into movies but without fail the books are better!

I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of the classics. I read them in school and at university. That was enough for me.
.
I would like to mention two non-fiction authors here.

I’ve talked about John Robbins before. Reading his work is like taking the Red Pill (like in The Matrix). Your world will never be the same again. And that’s a good thing!

If you are struggling with infertility, you simply have to read Julia Indichova’s Inconceivable. It’s not a how-to-get-pregnant book. It’s a journey towards yourself and your fertility. Deeply moving and very inspirational. And it may just get you pregnant… (like my friend Terri).

There are so many more, but we’ll leave it at that. My book is calling!

What about you? Have you read any of these? What is your favorite book?

The next question I would like to answer comes from Chanda.

Being a total romantic at heart (and I suspect you are too), I want to know how you met your hubby.

Ok, I’m a Virgo. So I’m more practical than romantic, although I do have very active tearducts when watching movies and TV or reading. But I’m not the kind of girl who is easily swayed (anymore) by pretty words, roses and chocolate. Doing what you said you were going to do and holding me when I feel sad, or happy, count for more in my book.

I have a very sad and sordid history when it comes to men and dating. I was literally looking for love in all the wrong places. My first marriage was a disaster from start to finish. Almost five years ago I stumbled upon an internet dating site and signed up in moment of madness. That was the official start of the Bridget Jones years. I kept notes, so if you want I can write about my blind dating career…

But let’s fastforward to 20 July 2005. I was sitting in my office, reading newspaper reports of a social event I had attended two nights previously with yet another blind date. Some of my colleagues had even seen me on the news the previous evening… The date was a bust, but I had come to expect that. In fact, I was no longer even nervous when I went on this endless stream of highly entertaining encounters.

I decided to surf the dating site to see who was on. There was a new face - CraigB. Not too bad, a bit on the short side maybe. I decided to “favorite” him.

The next morning I had a message in my inbox from him. Just some generic “Hi, how are you” stuff. I replied in the same vein.

The following morning there was another message in my inbox. Could he have my phone number, because he’s not really into long correspondences. So I sent him my number and he phoned me. Very abrupt-sounding. Would I go to dinner at a fancy restaurant with him that evening? He’d pick me up at 7 pm. I replied that I’d meet him at the restaurant, but afterwards I realized that it was Friday night and parking was bound to be a problem. So I phoned him back and gave him my address.

Normally I was very relaxed before a date… But for some reason our two short phone conversations had made me nervous. He had sounded so impatient. I didn’t know what to expect.

When he buzzed my door and I went out to meet him, my heart sank to my shoes. He had lied about his height. He was definitely shorter than he’d claimed in his profile. By the lack of greeting I knew that he’d also realized that I was slightly bigger than Curvy or Voluptious or whatever I had claimed to be. He showed me to a shiny and very fancy Mercedes and we set off in awkward silence. I thought the evening was going to be a total disaster.

The silence didn’t prevail for very long, because when I get nervous I tend to babble. By the time we were seated in the restaurant, I wanted wine and I wanted it NOW! Fortunately we had the same taste in wine (I take wine very seriously) and we started to relax a bit. In no time at all we were chatting amicably, laughing at the same kind of things and I realized something amazing: I was being completely natural. I wasn’t trying to impress or put my best foot forward. We were having a great time. We agreed on so many things. All this was helped by more wine and great food. After our meal we went to another, outdoor venue (in the middle of winter!) for coffee, so that I could smoke. That’s where he kissed me. Despite the smoke.

The next morning I phoned my best friends and said “This guy is different”. And he was. When he said “I’ll phone you tomorrow”, he did. We saw each other every day after that first date. The first gift he gave me was an antique Chinese wooden bucket. When my car broke down he lent me the money (almost $1000) to have it fixed. I didn’t ask him for it, but he didn’t like the idea that his girlfriend (his words) had to stand in the rain waiting for buses. I paid him back at bonus time, a whole 5 months later.

He met my family shortly after we met and they liked him. I never thought I’d see the day!

I told him I loved him pretty early on, but he, being a man of few words, just couldn’t say it. He showed me every day. One day he attended a business lunch which turned into quite a party. At some point he mentioned to all and sundry that he had a girlfriend (his dad was there too). Then he phoned me to tell me that he would be unable to see me that evening (I could hear that!), but that he loved me. And he made sure that I realized that it was the first time he’d said it!

I gave up my flat in January 2006, because I only really visited it to get post.

There was never a proposal. I mentioned that one had to book wedding venues about a year in advance, so we started scouting venues. By then we were eating really healthy and I was losing weight. I thought that I’d be able to stand being the center of attention for one day - my wedding day. So we went ahead and planned a rather fancy wedding for January 2007. We had the ring designed and made up and got engaged in May (I think it was two years ago yesterday).

Unfortunately I fell of the wagon with a thud and as the wedding drew nearer and I was getting bigger instead of smaller, I started dreading this wedding business. I was under a lot of stress at work too. I was bailed out of it when he bought a new business that took up a lot of his time. One night over dinner I mentioned that I wasn’t looking forward to the wedding anymore. He said that he had never wanted such a “do” anyway and that he’d be happy to go to the magistrate’s court. I wasn’t going to fall for that one, but said that I’d find something special. The next day my friend Charlotte suggested Matjiesfontein.

To call Matjiesfontein a village would be an exageration. It’s a railway station in the middle of nowhere, with a hotel and some other buildings, all belonging to the same person. It’s about two and a half hours from Cape Town and I used to love going there for mini-breaks before meeting Craig. We decided to take our parents and elope to Matjiesfontein.

Ten days later, in September of 2006, we said our vows in the tiny little chapel at Matjiesfontein. No mess, no fuss! Very practical. And yes, it was romantic! I cried all the way through my vows!

Ps. He’s standing on a step in this picture!

DaDivaStreet’s fifth and final postcard arrived in my mailbox today. Why it didn’t arrive with the other four, we’ll never know*. She’s done a great job of “selling” New York City to me!

The message reads: The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.

Thanks DaDiva! I hope you’ll take part in the next postcard swap!

*This reminded me of a commercial about where missing socks go. I can’t find that one (the commercial, not the sock), so I thought I’d show you my current favorite ad.

Nicole wanted to know more about South Africa.  This is such a broad subject and since I have written about the negatives, such as crime, corruption and bad government, here and here before, I’m going to try and keep this positive and informative.

South Africa is situated at the southern tip of Africa. At 471 000 sq miles, it’s the world’s 25th largest country.  The climates vary from extreme desert just south of Namibia, lush subtropical on the East Coast and along the Mozambique border, semi-arid in the interior to Mediterranean in the southwest.  The summers are generally warm, while the winters are fairly temperate.  Snowfalls generally only occur in the mountains. 

South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world after Brazil and Indonesia.  In fact, we account for about 10% of all the plant species in the world.  Numerous mammals are found in the bushveld areas, including lion, impala, leopard, rhino, elephant, cheetah, buffalo, giraffe, hippo and hyena.

There are nine provinces and eleven official languages, most of which are regional.  English and Afrikaans (which is descended from Dutch) are spoken throughout the country, and most business is conducted in English.

The population numbers in excess of 43 million, according to the last census, held in 2001.  It’s made up as follows:  79.5% Black African, 9.2% White, 8.9% Coloured (mixed race) and 2.5% Indian and Asian. 

Black Africans can be divided into numerous diverse ethnic groups (much like Native Americans), like Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Basuthu, Ndebele, Tswana, Swazi, etc. 

The White population are mostly descended from Dutch, French Huguenot, Portuguese, German and British settlers.

The Coloureds are mixed descendants from Malay slaves brought here in the 18the century, the indigenous San people (Bushmen), Whites and Blacks.  The Malay descendants are mostly Muslim and generally live in the Western Cape.

With so many different people, it’s difficult to describe South African culture.  The White and Coloured people generally maintain a Western culture.  The diet is largely meat-based and the braai (barbeque) with wood or charcoal is a way of life.  And we don’t braai hamburgers or hotdogs!  It’s chops (mutton, lamb and pork), steak and chicken all the way.  We also braai a sausage called boerewors from ground beef and fat.  Accompanying the braai would be garlic bread, or toasted sandwiches, salads (often potato salad), corn on the cob.  It is perfectly acceptable to eat the meat with ones hands at a braai.  And no braai is complete without a few cold beers, wine or, for the staunch Afrikaners, brandy and Coke. (Needless to say, Craig and I don’t braai much!)  So entrenched is the braai in South African culture, that most modern homes feature a braai room with a chimney so that we can braai year round and not only in summer!

Other delicacies include biltong, which is dried steak strips.  Unlike jerky, this is not boiled before drying, but marinated and hung raw.

The Black population eat more traditional foods with mieliepap (a stiff corn porridge, almost like polenta) as their staple.  Their national sport is soccer, while the White population live for rugby in winter and cricket in summer.  South Africa has won the Rugby World Cup twice, in 1995 and 1997. 

South Africa is very rich in mineral deposits, and we are the world #1 producer of platinum (90% or all the platinum in the world comes from South Africa), chrome, manganese and vanadium and #2 producer of gold (41%) and titanium.  We also have a large diamond industry.

The world’s first heart transplant was performed by a South African, Dr Christiaan Barnard, less than a kilometer from where I’m sitting now. 

Nine million tourists visit South Africa each year.  That figure is expected to increase in the next 2 years, since we will be hosting the World Cup Soccer tournament in 2010.

The country has much to offer tourists.  There is the beautiful scenery, the Winelands (South African wines are famous around the world), the Garden Route, the modern cities, beautiful beaches, great surfing, the wildlife and the cultural diversity.

On the downside, there is a huge gap between rich and poor.  And it is getting wider.  A lot of people are very, very poor.  AIDS is a huge problem and there are over a million AIDS orphans.  The latest figures suggest that 31% of pregnant women are HIV positive.

Crime remains one of the biggest problems facing South Africans of all races.  There seems to be no end in sight, which brings me to Erin’s question. Would we ever consider emigrating?

This question is discussed around almost every braai fire, dinner table and office water fountain in South Africa. People are leaving in droves. You’d be hardpressed not to run into South Africans in London, Perth, Sydney, Auckland and Dublin these days. We are certainly talking about it, especially since we want to start a family and believe that parenting is stressful enough without having to worry that your child will killed in his bed or shot dead by a carjacker. Where we would go remains to be seen. It’s not an easy decision to make. But yes, we would go.

The Nanny Diaries

I was once a nanny. Although, since this crime against humanity took place in France, we’ll use the term au pair. But let me assure you that wiping up vomit is the same in any language.

At the tender age of 20, having just come out of my first “grown-up” relationship with a broken heart and with a year of university French behind me, I somehow managed to convince my father that the logical next step would be to go and work in France. In my family only my uncle, who had been a flight attendant in the 1970’s and my grandfather who had fought in North Africa during the Second World War had ever been overseas.

Through the university, I managed to arrange a position with a family near Le Mans. They barely spoke English and I had some text-book French. Interesting times, mes amis! I made so many faux-pas, especially in the beginning. Fortunately, I was fluent within a very short period of time and complimented on my pure accent, for which that area of France is known.

My job entailed looking after three children, doing their laundry, preparing their meals and keeping their room in order. The kids were Girl6, Girl3 and Boy2. Girl5 was quite a difficult child and I struggled with her from time to time. Girl3 took a while to warm to me, but once she did, we had lots of fun together.

The two girls went to school every day, so most of my time was spent with Boy2. He was the apple of my eye, with his silver blond hair and big brown eyes. Every time I put him down for a nap, or to bed for the night, I’d sing him to sleep in my arms. That was our special time together.

My day started when I woke the girls up for school and got them dressed and fed. Their mom took them to school, after which she would go in to Le Mans for shopping, errands or meeting friends. We lived in the country in a house called La Seigneurie - The Manor House. Parts of the house dated back to the 14th century, it had a tower and a very scary cellar (cave) where my employers put their kids when they were very naughty! WTF! I thought that was barbaric and did my best to control and discipline the kids so that they wouldn’t have to visit the cave. In my time there, Girl5 went a few times and Girl3 only once. Boy2 was an angel and he never went - he was too young anyway.

We went for long country walks, him in a stroller and me singing as far as we go. I would often wish he was mine!

The problem with Boy2 however was that he got terribly carsick. We never went anywhere without a complete change of clothing or him and for me! I often changed my clothes behind a bush on a French country lane! I didn’t drive, so I sat next to him in the back.

My day ended when the girls went to bed. At night they were their parents’ responsibility. I’d go to my room to read. As I said, we were in the country…

We went on vacation twice. Boy2 hated the beach and wouldn’t touch the sand. It was rather cold and miserable the first time, but I had to sit on the beach with the kiddies, while the parents played cards and drank cocktails back at the hotel. I’m not such a fan of the beach myself, so I hated this part.

I celebrated my 21st birthday there. I spent it with Theresa, who worked for friends of “my” family and had been at school with me. She had much more freedom than me - she had the use of a car
some days, regular days off and a bicycle. Looking back now, I can see that I was rather taken advantage of. I earned enough money for stamps, cigarettes and the odd soda. I couldn’t even buy my family, or myself, presents! I was lonely much of the time. I was mostly miserable. I was probably not the best nanny either. I think I was too young and immature. Yet, it was a fantastic experience!

The Good:
- I loved the kids
- I learned to speak (and read) French fluently
- The food. OMG, the food and the wine in this place is just something else…
- We attended the wedding of a count
- I saw how the French lived
- I was treated as part of the family

The Bad
- I missed my freedom
- I missed my family (my dad wrote me a letter every week - I still have them)
- I missed interaction with people my own age (there were none in the village)
- This was in the days before internet and email
- Nobody should have to watch The A Team dubbed into French!
- I got bored very quickly
- I was underpaid
- While I was very good in meeting the kids’ physical needs, I may not have been the most fun and engaging nanny ever.
- I never spent any time in Paris.
- My nine months there felt like forever. I just wanted it to end!

When I opened the floor I had no idea I would get such interesting questions! I’m milking this one for blogging mileage, that’s for sure!

Not that I have been particularly blogstipated lately… I have just been frittering away my time on so many dead-end pursuits lately (including, but not limited to, reading over 200 blogs per day) that I haven’t had the time to write down what I have to say.

But that is about to change! I’m cutting back on the amount of blogs in my reader in order to LIVE MY LIFE. I will only be reading the blogs of people with whom I’ve built a relationship, or who inspire me so much that I just have to read them. Of course, if you comment here, I’ll follow. So delurk!

I am also commiting to writing more (hopefully) interesting and (hopefully) informative posts. Despite the name, this was never intended to be a blog solely devoted to my baby-longings, my weight loss journey or health. It is above all a way for me to interact with a bunch of awesome people and get into the habit of writing regularly. I never expected the overwhelming show of support and encouragement that I’ve found here!

Which almost answers DeeDee’s question… She wanted to know whether I write for myself or for my readers. I think the blog is more a social thing than a personal journal. I don’t write about the minutae of my life, but I do mention the important stuff. Having said that, I’ll often write about stuff here that I wouldn’t necessarily discuss around a dinner table. For instance, while Juice Feasting I attended social functions where I never mentioned that I was Juice Feasting, but you guys were subjected to the poop report on a regular basis. It’s a wonder I still have readers… This site will never be a food and exercise journal though.

Thanks for popping in, Deedee! I will definitely work my way through DGM’s list in the near future, LIFE permitting of course!

Now, about those questions. I won’t be answering them all today, because I know you all have lives of your own and I have quite a bit to say about some of them. I don’t feel heroic enough to attempt the world’s longest blogpost quite yet! So today I’m going to concentrate on the questions that I can answer relatively briefly.

Lora asked how I came to live in South Africa. Well, I’m almost the South African equivalent of Mayflower stock. The first European (Dutch, to be exact) settlers arrived here in 1652 to establish a supply post for ships going from Europe to the East (there was no Suez Canal in those days). My family arrived in 1660 and bred like bunnies. I think their first home was probably within a five mile radius from where I’m sitting now, although you’ll find a Van der Merwe on almost every street block in the whole country. It’s a very common name and also incidentally the butt of Afrikaner jokes - like the Irish Paddy. I may be of European extraction, albeit somewhat diluted, but I’m as much an African as most of you are Americans, Australians, Kiwis and Canadians!

Felicia asked a very important question! How is my name pronounced? This is not only a problem for Americans, there are some local variations and I answer to anything from Hanley, Hannelie to Hey You! In actual fact it’s pronounced Hunli, with the emphasis on the the first syllable. I had some English friends who just called me Lee and if we were ever to emigrate, I’d probably introduce myself as such again.

Yardsnacker (when are you going to fix your RSS?) wanted to know when I had my first vegetarian meal. You’re just pulling my chain, right? I can barely remember what I ate yesterday!

Michelle had a few questions, some of which merit longer answers. Here are the shorter ones…

If you could live in another time period which would you choose? I would have loved to be a settler, so I’d say the late 1600’s. Just think, no pollution, no overpopulation, whole foods… and a whole lot of hard physical work.

If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would you choose? Apart from you? I didn’t even have to think about that one… John Robbins, without a doubt. He is my hero. I can’t begin to tell you how much respect and love I feel for this man. If you’ve never read his books, Diet for a New America, The Food Revolution, Healthy at 100 and Reclaiming Our Health you are missing out on one of the sanest, most important voices of our time. And I’d get a healthy meal to boot!

And no, that doesn’t take care of Emil’s question! That one merits a post of its own!

Back to Michelle… What is my greatest accomplishment to date? My 80 day Juice Feast. I had failed at similar pursuits so many times before, but this time I did it! It has given me such a sense of “can do”, which I know I will impact the rest of my life. If I can do this, I can damn well do anything!

That’s it for now! I’ll answer the rest in individual posts.

And it doesn’t have to stop here… You can always ask me stuff.

I swung by the post office this afternoon and was ecstatic to find six items that weren’t in window envelopes. Yes, some of my postcards have arrived! And may I say, you guys outdid yourselves! You have made my day!

Felicia is in Montana, and she sent this beautiful card depicting the “Big Sky Country”.

Her message reads:

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those who kindle the inner spirit. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Thanks Felicia! That is beautiful! Knowing you is definitely a spirit-kindling experience.

Lisa, a fellow Juice Feaster from Texas, sent both a card and a postcard.

She chose a message from a Louise L. Hay Wisdom Card. It says:

I am good enough. I am not restricted by old, limiting beliefs from family or from society.

Thank you, Lisa. That’s an affirmation I really need to repeat daily. I love the bluebonnets!

DaDivaStreet is so proud of her hometown, New York City, that she sent me four postcards!

This one has another affirmation (also from Louise L. Hay, if I’m not mistaken - I love that woman!): Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.

The difference between “try” and “truimph” is just a little “umph”!

I hear you!

I am the greatest! ~ Muhammed Ali
He said that even before he WAS the greatest…

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~ Confucius
I take great comfort in that!

Thank you DaDiva! They are gorgeous! I will be picking your brain about what Craig and I can do for a few hours in New York on while we wait for our flight connection back home in June!

Ladies, I feel very blessed tonight. Thank you!

I’ve been tagged by WVSooner to disclose 7 things about myself. But I’ve done that so often that I can’t think of seven more things to bore entertain you with.

So, I decided to put the ball in your court. Ask me anything about myself or my life and I will answer in a post. How does that sound?

In the meantime, I’m working on some exciting new features. I was hoping to be ready today, but alas no. And I may not be ready tomorrow either… but I know you can wait!

If you’ve taken part in the postcard swap, and you’re posting it on your blog (which would really be nice!), remember to click on Mr Linky in the sidebar when your postcard arrives.  I’ll be fetching post tomorrow, so hopefully there’s something for me.  Of course I swapped with more than one person, because I wanted everyone to get a foreign postcard and there were so many Americans.  Some might call that being greedy, but I prefer thoughtful!

Don’t forget to ask questions!

Swimmer Natalie du Toit is one of South Africa’s top athletes. 

She first competed internationally at the age of 14, when she took part in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. 

In February 2001 she was struck by a car while driving home from swimming practice on her scooter.  She lost her left leg.

Three months later she was back in the pool, before she could even walk.  She swims without the aid of a prosthetic limb.

During the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Natalie, who was then 18 years old, won both the multi-disability 50 m freestyle and the multi-disability 100 m freestyle in world record time. She also made sporting history by qualifying for the 800 m able-bodied freestyle final - the first time that an athlete with a disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.  At the closing of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, she was presented with the first David Dixon Award* for Outstanding Athlete of the Games.

In 2003, competing against able-bodied swimmers, Natalie won gold in the 800 metres freestyle at the All-Africa Games as well as silver in the 800 metres freestyle and bronze in the 400 metres freestyle at the Afro Asian Games.

She narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics in Athens in 2004, but during the Paralympics that were held in the same city, she won one silver and five gold medals. In the same year, her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year 2004 with Disability Award. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games she repeated her previous performance by winning the same two golds as she had in Manchester. In 2006 Natalie also won six gold medals at the fourth IPC World Swimming Championships, finising third overall in a race which included 36 males and 20 females.

Four days ago Natalie qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after finishing fourth in the 10km open water ace at the Open Water World Championships in Seville, Spain. Her time was only 5.1 seconds off the winner. 

She is hugely popular in South Africa and inspires people with her will and determination. Her motto is “Be everything you want to be“. Let’s make that our mission!

* David Dixon Award is named after the former honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation for 17 years, David Dixon. It is given to the outstanding athlete of each of the Games based on their performance at the Commonwealth Games, fair play, and overall contribution to their team’s participation at the Commonwealth Games. The award was introduced in 2002 in Manchester.