Two things you can almost always count on:

1. Everything you touch is crawling with germs and viruses.

Not to freak you out or anything, but it's a fact. And, because of that fact, you're going to catch a cold or the flu eventually. I do, usually about once a year. I think that's about normal. And because I like being normal, the cold and/or flu usually hits me during the months between October and March, when it's coldest and when, frankly, it's more fun to be sick.

2. Cable TV is crawling with Sandra Bullock.

This is also a fact. It's much less of a freakout than the germs and viruses, but it's just as true. This week alone, on four different channels, you could watch "Hope Floats," "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous," "28 Days" and "The Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The last three are on twice.

In my life, these two phenomena are inextricably entwined. Now, "Premonition" notwithstanding (a film I saw in a private screening room two weeks ago because my job is to review movies — fancy, I know), I don't often watch Sandra Bullock's work in theaters, seated upright or wearing pants. I'm usually on the couch, in pajamas, covered in a blanket, eating soup. Because I like her best when I'm sick.