Guy with some awkward hair, looking for advice.

My hair used to be just wavy, but for some reason once I hit highschool it turned into a mess. It's pretty much an afro. The top and back still have somewhat nice curls with a bit of frizz, and I feel that if I treat it right, it will look very nice. But the sides are awful. It's basically pubic hair on the sides of my head. I'm starting college and looking for a job in a few weeks, and I need to change it, not because I look punky (I like punky), but because it gives people the impression that I'm filthy (Which I am not). I've always desired straight, long hair, although I've had this evil hair for so long that I wouldn't really mind nice curls if I had to have it that way. My hair is probably 5-6 inches long everywhere, and even when wet, it's pretty weightless. Even if I get it down, as soon as I go outside the wind sends a few curls on the top of my head straight up. I was thinking of maybe shaving the sides and gelling the top and back into little spikes or something as a last resort. I'd appreciate some advice as to what I can do to get some more managable and nicer looking hair.

Consider this:

My friend's mom once gave her a bad perm.

She then took out some conditioner and started cutting up potatoes and sticking them in their. After a while, my friend conditioned using that, and it worked. The potato kept her hair smooth and her curls defined.

Potato starch workds. I use L'Oreal VIVE Smooth Intense (the VIVE Curl Moisture is good too).

As for the public hair parts, just perm them or curl them with an iron. If you are into braids, find someone to cornrow them, they charge a lot to do that in salons.

PS. I noticed that people with interesting hair work in bookshops (Borders), coffeeshops, clubs, surfshops as opposed to offices and schools.