Hey, I've been following the whole Bitcoin phenomenon for a while not... obvious regret for not buying in sooner haha... but I'm wondering where I should start to dabble in the crypto-currencies?

I have $1000 I can afford to play with and let sit for a while if need be. Honestly, I'm a little more attracted to LiteCoin and PeerCoin but would it be smarter to invest in the even smaller coins?