To all:
After I followed all of your suggestions this is what the circuit came out to be: http://i.imgur.com/FawPWnN.jpg
I'm still running into the same problem ... 
It works on arduino as a clock, but not as 555.
I have not tried using 555 to use transistor to switch relay yet however; should it make a difference?
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Wow this marquee thing is cool.