1) Install the basic version.
2) Change your /etc/apt/sources.list to point to the version you want to run: stable, testing, or unstable (I like testing right now)
3) "apt-get update"
4) "apt-get dist-upgrade"
5) "apt-get install <package>" your way to happiness.

I don't use dselect. It does suck, mightily. It has portions of the Jet Database Engine genes in its makeup.

For the kernel, try 'apt-cache search kernel-image'. Something like "apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.20-686" is a likely choice.

For Gnome, "apt-get install gconf2" will probably grab most of the gnome2 basics you need (which will grab the X-window stuff you need).