figuring out color

I'm just going to write about this because it'll help me feel better to have shared it.

I've struggled with getting color to look right for the past few years, and in the last few months I discovered two things: 
          - Whenever I've opened an application (bridge, photoshop, firefox, etc) with my monitor (which came with my computer) connected, the color profile has always been messed up (go figure). If I open the application with my tv connected to my computer, the color profile is magically correct.
          - Also, whenever I've opened a .raw file in lightroom or ACR, the skintones are, by default, a hideous pink. As if the person's skin was irritated. Everywhere.  BUT, I found out that if I batch a .raw file straight to a tiff (through Bridge), skipping ACR, and open that tiff in photoshop, the skin looks just as wonderfully healthy as it did on my camera screen.

And tonight, I realized that a duplicated image layer in soft light blend mode makes the colors less dull, if you first flatten the tones to a dull gray. 

So, expect to start seeing more color images here soon...