sending click event to marker

hi, i've done some searching, both through the forums and the web, for
a way to trigger the click event that is attached to the markers on my
map via javascript,

ie: the user clicks a link on the page and the info window on the
corresponding marker opens

nothing i've tried so far has come even close to working properly
right now my workaround is to load the info into a seperate div and
center on the proper marker on the map, but it can be confusing when
there are several points clustered together.
what i really want is to change the marker image when the user clicks
on the link
this is to keep the map as clear as possible since i already have it
laid out to use the seperate div to load infomation.

i know they're probably fairly easy problems to solve, but lately it's
the little problems that seem to stump me the most.

thanks to anyone who can help me out