alright...
next set of questions... resistor sizes.
I am using a 2N3904 transistor, which may not bethe correct thing to use, but maybe it is. i don't know for sure...
the way i understand this, R1 would be the current limiting resistor for Arduino. but i can seem to find what the current needs to be to operate the get the transistor to 'turn on' (yes, i sure there is a very technical term for this 
)
i bet i would plug the need current and something like 5v's into Ohm's law and i would get something helpful???
here's the data sheet
http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/2N/2N3904.pdf
i'm going to guess 10k and 5v for ohm's law values... maybe?
thanks ya'll