Jolie is in contact with a researcher about her condition of synesthesia. The friend jokes that Jolie should make this her Facebook status as it shows she has taken her interest to an obsessive level. The friend was also troubled by Jolie calling their past Facebook status cryptic, as cryptic statuses have a negative connotation of being passive-aggressive calls for attention.

1. Personal correspondence
Project: E-mail reply
Client: My friend Jolie, who experiences something called “synesthesia”
You’re in touch with a researcher? That’s like one step short of publishing a newsletter and starting an
Internet radio show. Sounds vaguely conspiratorial. It’s what people do when they want to take an idea
they’ve just kind of been kicking around to the next level ... THE OBSESSION LEVEL.
I guess what I’m saying is you should make “in touch with a researcher” your Facebook status.
Speaking of which, I’m troubled that you thought my status update from last weekend was “cryptic,” even
though I know it was, because “cryptic” status updates have a negative connotation; i.e., a passive-
aggressive way to get people to ask you about something you’re dying to get off your chest. Pretty sure
we’ve discussed this. And even if we haven’t, we don’t really need to, because we’re both keen observers of
human behavior; as such, we recognize that passive-aggressiveness is so inherently obnoxious that
discussing it would be akin to pointing out how getting punched in the face hurts really bad.
I’d like to think we simply don’t have time for such pedestrian observations.
Well, at least I don’t.