A former Mustang Daily humor columnist is returning to what he does best, exercising his funny bone, but this time for a wider audience.
Cal Poly journalism alumnus Mike Heimowitz is bringing back his popular humor column “Mike’s Guide to Life” on his Web site, www.mikeheimowitz.com.
His weekly columns, which ran in the Mustang Daily from October 2006 to May 2007, were notorious among students and faculty for their conversational style and humorous topics.
Pushing the limits of the “How-To” format, his articles ran the gamut on hard-hitting issues such as, “How to avoid being the party’s jackass,” “How to be a gangsta rapper” and “A man’s guide to proper bathroom etiquette.” They even inspired a Facebook group called Everything I Know Comes From Mike’s Guide to Life, which boasts 253 members.
Heimowitz’s first column since graduating from Cal Poly was posted to his Web site Feb. 20 and is entitled, “A Guide to ‘Mike’s Guide.'” It’s meant as a shout out to those who followed his writing two years ago, as well as an introduction to readers unfamiliar with his work, he said.
Currently living in Los Angeles and working as an assistant in the offices for the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Heimowitz fondly remembers the time when his articles ran in the Mustang Daily.
“When I was writing at Cal Poly, it was a lot of fun to be creative and write something I know a lot of people were enjoying,” he said. “Once I got going, I was free to do what I wanted. Sometimes I would push the boundaries and was kind of edgy, but (the editors) were pretty supportive of that. I also liked that a lot of students read the Daily. It was always good to see people reading your column.”
Explaining why he returned to writing after all this time, Heimowitz said it emerged both from boredom and the enjoyment he gets from of presenting his unique point of view.
“I went a year without writing at all and now that I’m stuck in an office all day, it’s fun to just get my thoughts out,” he said. “I want to be creative again and keep my mind going.”
Heimowitz’s columns will follow the signature style he developed while at the Daily, although the format will be a little different.
“I’m going to keep it pretty much the same because it seemed to work back then,” he said. “I used to use footnotes, which worked in print form, but it doesn’t work so well in an online format because the reader has to continually scroll up and down and can get lost.”
According to Heimowitz, upcoming columns will discuss topics including the public’s infatuation with Barack Obama, Subway sandwiches, the Giants-Dodgers rivalry and how to watch sports with your girlfriend. He also hopes to add to previous columns, such as his series, “Is your Facebook addiction properly fed?” which was especially popular among readers.
In addition to Mustang Daily readers, Heimowitz’s columns were also immensely popular with the staff. Emily Rancer, Cal Poly journalism alumna and editor-in-chief during his year with the paper, remembers Heimowitz’s unique sense of humor.
“I actually knew him before we hired him (and) he was already one of funniest people I knew,” Rancer said. “So when he applied for the position, he was basically a shoe-in. I remember on the nights before his columns went out, we would always pass around the stories in the newsroom for a laugh before they even went on the page.”
Heimowitz said he will post new columns every Thursday.