I am not an expert on attention. Rather, I am someone with the good fortune to conduct investigations and share discussions with others who are experts in this area. The empirical context for many of these interactions has involved alterations of procedures typically used to demonstrate negative priming effects; alterations designed to examine the link between negative priming and selective attention. My talk will trace these social and empirical interactions, presenting bits of work driven largely by scientific colleagues including Bruce Milliken (Milliken & Joordens, 1996; Milliken, Joordens, Merikle & Seiffert, 1998), Penny MacDonald (MacDonald, Joordens & Seergobin, 1999; MacDonald & Joordens, 2000), and Tomas Spalek (Joordens, Batencourt & Spalek, in press; Spalek & Joordens, in preparation). The talk will highlight the advantages and disadvantages of altering traditional procedures, and will conclude with my current opinion with respect to how negative priming effects are related to selective attention, selective responding, and the general notion of selection for action.