As I'm sure you all know, Dragon Age II is coming out this Tuesday, and I just realized that I never got around to purchasing and playing through Awakening. I'm a big fan of the original game; is Awakening worth it? Or do you think I should just jump right into Dragon Age II?

It's buggier, and less "essential" but there are some good moral choices near the end, and your choices in Awakening will show up in DA2.  It also has a number of characters that play big roles in the sequel.  It's a lot easier though, because you'll have a higher level character (assuming you transfer a Warden), and about 15-20 hours long.   I'd play it.  

i would play awakenings it is a solid game. Also some of the characters and decisions you make will cross over into 2. 
 
i don't think you need to play it inless you want your decions to carry over

Yeah, sure. It's short (I finished it in 10 hours. Your milage may vary), kind of easy (Basically, all the new abilities are OP. Which ones? All of them), and most of the new characters aren't as interesting (Justice and Anders both appear in DA 2, so you might as well get to know them so you can accuse Bioware of ruining their characters in the sequel), but overall it's still a worthwhile experience. It's more Dragon Age, and if that's alright with you than I'd say go for it. As a plus, the fade segment in this game is actually enjoyable.

Yeah it's a good expansion. 

It was fun and there are some interesting missions in there.  But it probably isn't essential.  If you haven't bought it all ready, just wait and play Dragon Age 2 Tuesday.

Play it, Kill Anders, Import your save and wonder why he is still alive

" @ArbitraryWater:   I haven't played it but I want to know how it stacks up to Bioware's other 'add-on' packs, Heart of Winter, Throne of Bhaal, Hordes of the Underdark. "