My mom called home today to check up on me and my brother and brought up the topic of my upcoming UCLA and UC Irvine oboe auditions.

She wanted me to ask my private teacher what she thought my chances of getting in are.  "Because if they're not very high......... well, you might as well not bother."

........What the fuck?

Aren't parents supposed to encourage you?  Aren't they supposed to support you in your decisions?  Aren't they supposed to let you try things for yourself, to let you decide what you want to do, to let you learn from your own mistakes, and to not decide right off the bat that there's little chance you can make it -- especially when they have absolutely no experience in that field?  What the hell happened to all those "never give up" talks you gave us as kids?

I shouldn't be surprised, though.  They've never supported me in this area, not ever since I brought up the idea that I maybe wanted to go into music (when they themselves were the ones who forced me to continue piano lessons when I was a kid.  I just love the hypocrisy of it all).  Oh, they say they'll support me, but they strongly suggest I go into something else and keep music as a hobby.  They throw my cousins in my face as examples -- several doctors, a wealthy architect -- cousins who kept their art-related passions separate from their careers.  They would even rather see me do graphic design instead of music.

And if I were to give in, to give up on music and study what they'd rather see me study, that would be like putting the rest of my life in their hands.  When would I be free of them?

Goddamn relatives.