My style is ugly, help! (with pictures)

Hi, I'm an asian male, 19 years old and I live in Europe. kind of geeky, and I'm stupid with fashion. I am new in this forum. I have looked at a lot of topics, but none seem to contain the information I want. So I decided to come and ask you directly for help. I hope you can help me with my hairstyle horror.

You see, I kind of have a fear of barbers and hair stylists. The result is that the last time my hair was cut, was about 1 year ago. My hair is relatively straight and shiny (I use shampoo and conditioner almost every day, and I "style" it with cream gel.), but my hairstyle is absolutely a mess. Especially the sides. The problem is that while I should get it cut so it looks more clean, I don't want a shorter hairstyle. I want it to stay at this length, or a bit longer (until it reaches the shoulder). I don't really want to cut the sides, but maybe should I? One thing is sure though, I really have to change my haircut!

Here's some pictures:

My ugly hair at the sides:

My hair at the back/side, note the length of the hairs and the ugly style:

Not really ugly, but just to give you more impression:

This is where the sides look the most ugliest:

More pictures on how ugly the style is:

I think this is enough pictures to give you an impression of what I'm dissatisfied with. My hair is soft and not very frizzy, so that's not what I'm complaining about. I just need... some advice on my hair style. I really want medium length hair (preferably with my ears covered), but do you think it's possible? If you have any other shorter hairstyles to recommend me, then you can gladly tell me. I just need a better style, preferably one which isn't high maintenance and generally looks clean. I don't really want a messy or ultrahip style. But anything is better, so don't refrain from recommending me what to do to make it look better.

Maybe have more layers put in, or more texture?  Just something to break up the heaviness of it and make it easier to style messily. . .