Opinions wanted

I am at a loss when it comes to my hair.

First off, I can never get it to look right. (there's something you've never heard before!!) My hair is long (midback) and straight. Generally, I wash it at night, but sometimes in the morning. Also, I only wash it every second day because it generally looks a bit better on the second day than on the first. Anyway, whenever I wake up and brush it, it's sort of frizzy. If I leave it down, it gets tangled, and short frizzy bits stick up all around my head. But if I try to brush it back, it doesn't like to sit smooth, and I get bumpy brush marks (some pieces don't lie as flat as others). If I wash my hair in the morning, I let it dry pulled back, because otherwise it ends up frizzy and tangled, but looks better when I take it down from a ponytail later on. The other thing is, my hair looks awesome at night, whether it's the first or second day after washing. When I pull it out from the ponytail, it's always shiny and doesn't frizz and cooperates, only generally, I take it down when I'm home at the end of the night, so no one gets to see it at its best. Any suggestions on that topic?

The other thought is that I may try a new, more drastic style. A few friends of mine suggested I would look good in short hair (ie, ears showing and everything), though I've never had it above shoulder length so I wouldn't know. I am definitely apprehensive to try it, though the thought of such a drastic cut is also exciting. My hair is dark brown, and I've also had suggestions (ie, that I would "look good") to dye it blonde or red, or simply get highlights, though I personally like the (less interesting) darker hair colours. I don't think I would be too likely to do a gradual shift into a new style, because I would feel like I had missed out on the excitement of a drastic change. But by the same token, I wouldn't want to choose something I didn't like; besides which, I'm very indecisive.

Any assistance would be great.
Thanks, Shea.