Try out the new download centre, looks pretty snappy and nice to see a more sober implementation of Silverlight.
http://www.microsoft.com/beta/downloads/Search.aspx?SearchText=visual+studio
Don't be alone, meet some like minded people.
http://silverlight.net/community/communitygallery.aspx
It's good, honest.
http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/silverlight
http://silverlight.net/Showcase
Has some examples to get you going straight away.
http://silverlight.net/quickstarts/