minimalist distro
 

i understand that this maybe a dumb question to ask. I'm looking for an EASY distro that will allow me to configure just the bare essentials

I want to be able to boot from a CD, setup partitions EASILY, install the kernel, network module, bash, and some type of either http client or ftp client.

i don't want a distro that going to force me to install a gui, games, documentation, source, or any other whozit whatzit.

Re: minimalist distro
 

Any distro with package selection during installation should do.

Must be the morning for questions about minimal distros. Check out
ttylinux on http://www.minimalinux.org/ it's different from
what I'm used to (Slackware 10), but the docs are pretty good as far as
installation. And I set up a support board for it a couple weeks ago. I
have to admit that I do some of the work on the site. I don't have
anything to do with the actual ttylinux distribution though.

You list Debian as a distribution you use.
I think a Debian base install makes a good starting point for a useable text/console install. Apt-get any additional needed software. A Debian base install is around 200MB. The install is a Debian install though.
The Slax Frodo Live CD might be something you are interested in.
Good Luck.

LFS
Linux from Scratch, is a distro which you make yourself.
It's essentially a book which guides you through the process of making a linux distro.
Since you make it yourself, you have absolute control over it
www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Don't forget Gentoo.

Amigo Linux is based on Zipslack (checkout www.slackware.com)

All you do to install is unzip onto your c:/ drive and go, but that's probably not what your looking for...

I've also heard good things about puppy linux

I had debian with x windows fluxbox,firfox,thunderbird,xmms,mplayer and a few other apps 750 megs.

Arch Linux, after install it's a very base system, you have to install everything you want yourself. And it's i686-optimised so it runs pretty quick, quicker than the average distro anyway :)

Doesn't Arch have a live CD version?

Check out Vectorlinux

The Debian net-installer is very good for that. It installs the bare(!) minimum system and allows you to select packages for download and installation.

Damn small linux fits into this category.

I haven't used it so I cannot say how easy is to install.

Not officially, no. There are a couple of user-created ones getting around though and scripts to create your own.