It says:

!THE TIME YOURE WASTING DELIGHTS ME!<

Wait until you find the one that reads "BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE"

To be fair, if you're researching the supernatural and paranormal then you're gonna jot down just how much they deviate from the natural world and not measure how much they do that. Reminds me of the Spiderwick Chronicles; the field guide was meant to capture the differentiating characteristics of the Fae from our world and from each other. It's a reference, not a scientific report.

Also it can be argued that Ford kept majority of the nitty gritty in his mind. He's a very goal driven, all business scientist with a sense of urgency; especially after he met Bill. Even when he hid the journals, I believe he said they were kept around as a warning to those who encounter the weirdness in Gravity Falls.

Other people have made good points on this, but I want to highlight an important thing: the only journal we really know well is Journal 3. We know that Journal 2 contains Bill's summoning spell, so I would theorize that Journal 1 was all very meticulous and orderly with lots of properly catalogued research and experiment results and data. By Journal 2, things had started to go off the rails because Ford was only in his right mind part-time, with Bill doing a lot of the work, and a few pages into Journal 3, Ford got wise to Bill's scam and started to become a lot more paranoid and reclusive. So of course Journal 3 doesn't read like "proper" science, because of everything that Ford had gone through by that point.

I think this is one of those things where we have to say "It's a cartoon", and in the case of the printed real-life Journal 3, it's meant to be telling a story. If it was written as actual academic papers, it wouldn't be nearly as engaging.

I think they’re meant to be field notes rather than actual academic research notes/conclusions/findings. Especially since Fiddleford gives him that separate thesis to turn in when warning him about the dangers of pursuing the portal.

That's kinda the point - he's not really a scientist but an explorer documenting his finds. Ford approaches the supernatural world like an old school fantasy adventurer in undiscovered lands and thinks he's paving the way for future research. His inventions are mad science even before he meets Bill with little to no documentation of the process or function; that's why it took Stan 30 years to get it up and running again because he had to figure things out from first principles and incomplete notes.

It's also why Dipper's so enamored of it all. It's seems mysterious, vague & romantic to fire up the imagination, not lab instructions with data sheets to back up the claims. The Journals read like a fantasy novel that just happens to be real to him but he quickly discovers that the exciting blurb offers little useful information, just enough to cause trouble.

Hey, Dipper and Mabel! Blendin here. I'm currently living in the year 1883, and I hid this letter in hopes that it would one day reach you. (I got the idea from the movie "Return Backwards to the Past Again 3," which is required viewing for Time Academy freshmen.) You've probably got a lot of questions, and after the events of Weirdmageddon, man, I don't blame you!

So here's what happened: After Globnar, I was getting a LOT of flak for losing a gladiator fight to two children. Even though I got my job back (thanks for that, by the way!), my fellow officers kept calling me hurtful nicknames. Time Baby himself called me No-Friendin Blandin! Do you know what it's like to live like that?

Just as I was thinking I would give anything for Time Baby's respect, this weird triangle guy showed up in my dreams and said that he would make sure Time Baby never bothered me again. All I had to do was shake his hand! I've never been great at making decisions under pressure, and, well, you know the rest! When I awoke, that stupid triangle had used my body to travel through time and destroy the entire universe–and Time Baby, too!

Luckily, Time Baby isn't dead...exactly. It will take one thousand years for his molecules to reconstitute, and when they do, boy, is he gonna be cranky! The time agents also survived–they only send their holo-projections out on dangerous missions. But Lolph and Dundgren were FURIOUS about what I did!

Of course, this means that there is a dimension–wide manhunt of agents trying to find me and bring me to justice. But it was all a mistake!

The last thing I want is to go back to jail, so I've been hiding out in the past. It was fun for a while–seeing the sights, chatting with historical figures, visiting the ‘50s to try to learn the Twist. (I accidentally twisted my ankle and couldn't walk for a week.)

I wanted to check out the old West, too, but when I traveled here, I accidentally appeared right in front of a train and my time tape was shattered into fifty pieces. (Also, I think the train might have gone off the rails. Hopefully that isn't in the history books!)

Anyway, I just wanted to say not to worry about me! I've managed to blend in to the populace, and I got a job as a pocket watch repairman. I've also caught one of those cool gold rush-era diseases that're so popular in these times, and I am loving the nostalgia! Thanks for all your help, and if any time agents come looking for me, tell them you don't know nothing!

Blendin Blenjamin Blandin, 1883

I'm pretty sure it's a caesar cipher

If you do me I can the reason I can’t is because it won’t let me send pictures of the translated version in comments.

In the Hebrew version it’s just mirrored text if I remember correctly

Thanks !!!

Oh wow that's legitimately really cool

I think this is cool

You should be very proud of yourself for making this

This is awesome, you really put body and spirit in this

Dude, that is a full on fucking grimoire.

I bought it for my oldest and we had a blast looking through it! It's a great extension of the lore.

Absolutely! Otherwise it wouldn't be a Gravity Falls item!

There are not. Tons of codes but only the limited black light edition has those black light secrets.

Unfortunately, it was very limited run and they cost a freaking fortune now.

That said, it's a great book. You'll have fun reading it.

Just get a black light pen and write your own secrets

It's looking great so far. Too bad, the pages aren't yellow enough 🙄 (/j)

http://themysteryofgravityfalls.com/ For online decoding.

Literally unreadable now 😤

Hmmm I was curious about these as well, since these symbols are also in the book of Bill, pretty sure Hanahyperfixates asked Alex Hirsch in an interview and he said that he’s oretty sure it’s not a code? Idk maybe the art designer hid the code?

Hanahyperfixates (If you're interested in watching gf related video essays their account is a must watch btw) released an interview with Alex Hirsch on their channel and asked this question but Alex said that - as far as he knows - it's not a code.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slg-lwF23hU (watch from 33.22)

okay so update. according to an interview that alex had with Hannah hyperfixates it may be a code made by the books art designer but he does not know but he says it will be really cool if it is I'm going to currently make it my mission to find out if this is a code