Should I?

I'm thinking of getting a "Second Life" account. I became a lot more interested when I found out it was inspired by Neil Stephenson's "Snow Crash", which is also the name of one of my computers. Does anyone out there play? Is it worth while? Is the free account good enough, or is the pay-to-play service worth the extra cash? Does it get all invasive into my regular life, or can I maintain my trademark anonymity? Will the questions ever cease? Yes!