My sides always sucked too. For some reason, this problem goes away if you use bigger wool and needles, or it does for me anyway.

As for the random losing of stitches, you're probably accidentally knitting two stitches at once; luckily if you drop some too it tends to even it out. It's something I used to do a lot (and could also contribute to the sides looking a little messy as they'll end up uneven). That's something you'll get over.

Oh, and are you left-handed? Because I find purling a damn sight easier than knitting and I think it's because of my cack-handedness.